Exclusive are we?

Reposted from 6/21/10 cuz I'm still wondering…

It seems like more and more, this is a question that you probably would want to ask (should you be the more "geared for commitment" type, of course.)

I was watching sex in the city (what summer boredom does to you. You can add Spartacus to that too, OMG smh. I think I'm just going to stick to watching Leverage and Lie to Me and whatnots. But I'm talking in sporadic tangents bursting from my previously somewhat straight line of thought. As I was saying…) and Carrie had just found Mr. Big out on a date with a another woman: (I paraphrase and skip scenes in the following dialogue)

C: Are you on a date?

B: Yes, I am

C: Oh, oh, ok. How many dates do you go on?

B: I'm seeing a number of women.

C: Oh I see. Have a fantastic dinner. *slaps his chest in mock joy and storms towards her support/research group (ehem… friends) and out the door*

…

*hours later, phone rings*

B: I miss you baby (talking to Carrie).

I was all but fuming at this point.

Am I too old fashioned? Can I (or anyone else for that matter) no longer expect one man to simply date one woman (or vice versa)? And should s/he choose to date another, at the very least s/he could break up with the current flame s/he is dating (In this day and age however, asking the wo/man if s/he would consider a threesome might actually be what can be considered the very least s/he could do, but that brings me back to: Am I too old fashioned?)

Ok, if on both sides you acknowledge that: yes, this is a casual thing; yes, we'll go see some movies together once in a while but I will also be grabbing the occasional lunch with Agent Morgan or dinner, maybe even a midnight snack with Mr. Hardison in IT upstairs, then its really none of my business what you do.

But… My point:

We are at a point, when time is considered short, and the perfect wo/man is but myth conjured by the penmanship of the likes of Sidney Sheldon and other romance novelists. Conjured for those who still dare believe in the embrace of love, commitment and loyalty. That's all jolly. But are these a dying species? Would their extinction be for the better? And for who's benefit? Those who …sample all the slices of cake at once hoping they will find the best one when all that they taste is a gallimaufry of icing and therefore are incapable of telling one from the other?? Can you no longer take for granted the fact that this person you are seeing is seeing just you? Must you always be sure to have it explicitly stated (maybe even documented and signed with a witness (Yes, I know. Nothing slips by you does it?)) that the relationship is exclusive?

Then again,

I might just be being naive. In which case, the question should then be: At which point can you assume that you are exclusive? Should assumption be too scary a thing for you to do, at which point can you ask the question, "Can we be exclusive?"

After the 5th… 6th date?

After the 1st time s/he sleeps over? Or is it after the 3rd?

After s/he moves in?

After the 1st child?

…

KuiDee