Camille,
Thanks for the insights on European dating. We definitely have a different approach here in the US concerning exclusivity, although personally I tended to move toward exclusivity
fairly early in the process. Come to think of it, though, I didn't do a lot of dating of any sort.
Regarding a lady wanting to pay, or at least share, occasionally -- my inclination might be to say "thanks but it's not necessary," but if the lady were financially comfortable and insisted, I would probably let her. Occasionally, anyway.
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If it's something important to her, refusing would be churlish.
On the other hand, I remember a time many, many years ago when the cost of seeing a particular lady had grown beyond my ability to keep up. (It wasn't that she was especially demanding or high maintenance; more a function of a long-distance romance with
frequent trips between cities - all of which I was paying for, although our financial situations were roughly equivalent and far from flush.) I finally told her that I just wouldn't be able to continue seeing her; I literally was running out of money and maxing out my credit cards. I wasn't really trying to suggest that she share some of the costs, but she offered. I accepted, as the only way I could continue to see her. It was not a very pleasant feeling, but never seeing her again would have been worse. For me anyway; not sure about her perspective.
![Smile](http://www.eccie.net/images/smilies/smile.gif)
I didn't expect her to offer, and if she hadn't, I wouldn't necessarily have thought worse of her. The story did have a happy ending, though.