I went to dinner with a friend tonight. I ordered an item off the appetizer menu because it's yummy - turns out it's happy hour, and my dinner only cost $3.95. His response to me was: "Dude, you're a cheap date."

I think the word "dude" safely indicates that I'm not at all a "date"-type for this particular guy. But it did spawn an interesting conversation about the dating process and the financial/material transactions between a man and a woman during the courtship phase. I think we should cut men some slack, make prostitution legal, and let the transaction at least be open and honest. No more "I bought her a lobster dinner, so I'd better get some" or "He must not love me if the ring isn't over 5 carats" and all of the other crap that people put each other through.

I am content in my relationship, and I hope that he hasn't felt that kind of pressure from me. I guess I must be more like a typical "dude".