Dating

Woman said she only spends time alone with a guy if she is dating him. (Formally I though dating was spending time alone, but it's not in this case.) I believe that in her culture, dating means an interaction in public that establishes that they are a romantic couple, possibly in a bar-type scene or just in a restaurant. Dating is not just going out or going in for one meeting, it's a state of the relationship, like going steady. Once the relationship is in that dating phase, she's OK with spending time alone. It's like a social verification stage before intimate involvement.