Modern Warfare or Ain't Misbehaving

I think the game was simpler for my grandparents. The rules clearer... girls don't call. No kissing on the first date. Sex was saved for after an exchange of rings.

Now a days we're making up the rules as we go along. The end result is several shelves at Boarders Books and the eternal feeling that one is not playing the game right. Even my roommate and I disagree on which actions are OK, which make a girl seem easy and which get us closer to our goals... whatever that goal is. Some days it's the conquest - unlike my grandmother, not a gold ring, but rather the guy wrapped around the finger. Other times it could be the Long Term Relationship. Others, just a good time; entertainment. So many options of connections unheard of before. Also unheard of in the more religious and conservative parts of the world. Lucky us.

Finding the balance between Ain't-Misbehaving-saving-all-my-love-for-you with the A-Lot-Of-Livin'-to-do can make a person crazy. It is human nature to be unable to see the existential value of a person when confused by the relative value. If things just work with the right person, do games really need to be played? How long does one have to wait before calling, again?

My roommate errs on the hard to get side... I'm of the existential value kind. I have a fear that if one plays hard to get that when one finally gets the person, that they will lose interest and go after the next unavailable. The thrill is in the chase with no joy or satisfaction in the having. Whereas the flip side is that one values more the thing that s/he had to work harder for. This does not seem like a win-win game... But I think we can learn from each other.

We'll see. Neither of us are in a place to really test our theories. I'm leaving in 20 days for the first of 4 trips. And I should mention, this will soon become a travel blog, keeping friends and family up on where I am and my latest folly.