There is definitely an assumption that dinner with the opposite sex is automatically a date. I have a buddy of 20 years who I often go out to eat/go drinking with. He is a dear friend and we always laugh when people assume we're a couple and everyone does. Truth be told I'm fairly certain his wife tells him to call when she wants some peace and quiet, lol.

Mike Pence can conduct his private life anyway he see fit. That's none of my business...... Now, who wants to have dinner with me?

Ohferpetessake, you are really this dumb?

total b.s.

I wouldn't think twice about it.

I've dined out with men who I'm not dating without batting an eye. Business - friends - I'm not there to ruin their relationships - it would be insane to think so. I know what my morals are. And I am not a home wrecker.

I do have one friend who started dating a very insecure woman and I don't see much of him now - but he explained her insecurities to me. I'm okay with that. I understand that his primary relationship is more important to him and that the woman has some issues. (She's good to Him that's what matters). We can still correspond and talk - so I'm cool with that.

I've always considered myself as liberal as they come. The photo posted is of an extremely attractive young woman in a nice restaurant with a drink. If I had a burger with a co-worker who looked like that at lunch nothing would be said but if I told my wife to eat alone and I went out in the evening with her that would pretty much end my marriage. If I were single of course that would be a different circumstance. I really don't think I am unusual with this attitude as most of the married men I know agree with me.

Stupid reaction to assign morality to human interaction this is like sharia law that conservatives are trying to impose here and yet condemning Muslim Faith while practicing the same thing irrational religious beliefs

My first reaction is what has been beat into me for a lifetime. It is inappropriate. But why, really? After listening to your responses I have come to realize that it is totally okay. Now in retrospect it seems absurd I thought it was inappropriate. See, you can change someone's mind on the Internet.

That’s ridiculous. I have as many male friends as female friends plus a bunch who are gender queer. I have spent time with all of them individually and have never done anything untoward except tell raunchy jokes. If people cannot trust themselves to be with anyone else, they are the problem, not the circumstances.

Really? Sounds strange to me. If I'm having a meal with someone most likely there are other people in the restaurant. And why would this be a strange or foreboding thing? Now if the question had been would you have dinner in a hotel room with a person not your partner I would answer differently.

People who live in fear become slaves to fear.

That is crazy. I have lunch or dinner with men at work all the time and would not think twice about it.

When I was receiving theological training, those majoring in becoming clergy were told never to be alone in their office with a woman they were counseling. It was presented both as protection from false accusations and from "sexual temptation". At the time it seemed like reasonable advice, although the implicit assumption that any accusations of impropriety were either bogus or the woman's fault, was unsavory. The whole "Madonna or whore" dichotomy for women was (and still is) popular with them.

On the other hand ... I think that LSWs and psychitatrists and psychologists get similar advice, do they not? Otherwise a patient could make allegations that could be career-ending.

At any rate ... Pence's rule is far from unheard-of. Fundamentalists generally regard sexuality as radioactive and something you need to avoid direct contact with at all costs, much less in overtly intimate / private situations.

Even my wife, who is both an atheist and knows that I would not cheat on her in a million years ... in other words, I'm no polecatter ... still, she would not be comfortable and would have feelings of jealousy if I hired a subcontractor who was an attractive woman and I was working closely with that person behind a closed office door, possibly not even my own office.

So it seems like keeping clear of certain situations is prudent. In an ideal world, it wouldn't be necessary. In the real world, discretion might be the better part of valor -- even outside of the religious right. Because people suffer from jealousy and insecurity ... despite knowing better.

The two situations which you are attempting to conflate are not necessarily compatible. A dining situation can have implications and pitfalls that are different from thise associated with being a jounalist and doing a job.

Questions of who pays, believe it or not that is a high anxiety question for many women. If you let the guy pay, many immature guys attach expectations to that action. They believe if they pay, they expect something in return. You offer and srmand to pay, and the same other petson is insulted. It many cases it is a no win situation for the women.

In the situation where a woman journalist is doing a job
the lines of expectations and behaviors are more clearly laid out. Not that individuals might not overstep those boundaries, but is less likely.

Given the raising of perceptions over the last couple of decades, the situations outlined above have decreased. But there are still a large number of socially immature men out there.

Total Obstructionist republican fascist hype!

Am I the only person finding it hard to believe that this poll result is correct. If these were statistics from some Islamic nation I would believe it, but surely not from the USA in the twenty-first century! I certainly do not believe you would get the same findings from the UK or any European country, what possible reason would prevent a person sitting in a restaurant and having a meal with a member of the opposite sex?

Don't belive this!