No sex in the city - With my dating challenge looming above me, I have to admit I was a bit hesitant to go speed dating and to start trying to get randomly fixed up by my friends. Not that I was shy or nervous to go on the dates, but sharing these experiences with all of you who read this site was a bit daunting.

So when my girl friend Casey was in town a couple of weekends ago, I did not expect to end up meeting a guy at gay dive bar on the Upper West Side. Admittedly, I was more interested in hanging out with Casey and catching up with her life down in Dallas, but the guy was persistent in talking with me so I finally gave in and began chatting with him.

After about an hour of talking with this guy, I felt bad that I was ignoring Casey, and told him that we needed to be on our way. I gave him my number and started to say goodbye to him when he started to kiss me. Now, everyone has had the drunken make out at a bar, but I try not to make it a habit. Now in my late 20's I feel that it is kind of trashy to do this, however, sometimes my hormones do get the best of me. But with my friend Casey standing by, waiting and watching it was time to leave.

The guy and I began texting over the weekend and he asked me to dinner for that Thursday night. I don't know how straight guys can afford to go on dates all of the time in New York, or any other city for that matter, because dating is damn expensive.

In a straight relationship the guy is stereotypically thought to pay for the date. But who pays when its two guys? So while this guy asked me out to dinner on Thursday, I began to ponder this question. Now, while I wasn't broke by any means, I did not have the money to spend going on mediocre dates to expensive restaurants every week. So as date night grew closer, I began to wonder if he was going to pay for me. My typical rule in gay dating is that whoever asks the other out should be expected to pay.

So the night of our date came and I took the subway up to Harlem which was a part of the city that I was very unfamiliar with. He picked the restaurant so I agreed to travel to him for dinner. I must say that the area of Harlem he took me to happened to be rejuvenated. There were several nice restaurants and we went to a nice Italian one that he had picked out.

He ordered an appetizer for us and then picked out a bottle of wine. Now, at that point, I felt positive that he would be paying for the meal. When someone orders a bottle of wine without you knowing the price, I feel that they are taking on the onus of paying the bill. And while I was still stressed out for the remainder of dinner unsure if he really was going to pay, I was able to still enjoy the conversation. Unfortunately, I did not really feel any sexual chemistry with my date, and while he eventually did pay, we parted for the evening without any making out. We were, again, in Harlem and I did not want to get beat up.

So while I did not find a boyfriend with this one, I know there will be many more men to go out with here in New York. But that does not change the fact that dating in NYC is expensive and there will never be a date that I go on where I won't wonder who is going to pay. Again, does anyone agree that when going on a date, whether in a straight or gay dating situation, whoever asks the other person out should pay? I think that is the case. Anyway, on to the next man ...

Check out Craig's previous post here!