This last week we missed a class due to the holiday but we were able to meet on Thursday. This resulted in Thursday being a bit of a large dose of information. We spoke about preparing for marriage. This was not one of my favorite classes for sure. Never been a fan of dating and not looking forward to it the least bit, plus I'm an older student so it’s not likely to happen anytime soon anyways. Will likely wait until after graduation, but even then, meh. In fact, it’s so long since I’ve even cared about dating and relationships that I don’t remember the last time it I even cared about it. So needless to say, I had a hard time following this class. The few things I do remember discussing was different dating techniques. One of different techniques discussed was Serial Exclusive dating. This seemed somewhat rational, since the whole point of dating was to get to know someone. The best way to get to know someone that I could think of would be to spend time with this person, but apparently this is bad I guess since spending time with someone leads to conflict which leads to getting irritated and then no longer spending time with this person and so forth. So, the option that was "best" presented was to date several different people all the time, in order to get to "know" a lot of people and yet not really know any of them, I guess. But it’s my opinion still as it was before this class that people should be exposed to different ideas so that they can get a feeling of what really works for them. I think spending time with someone exclusively isn’t a bad thing. Conflict can be a good thing. Especially before marriage, since it allows for both individuals to see how the other behaves and fights in conflict. Better to get a good argument out of the way before marriage and see if they are team players too or if they double down and hold grudges. If you find yourself with a grudge holder its best to cut that turd loose as soon as possible. Its best to see this before you get caught up in something toxic that you can’t easily get out of, especially if children are present when the toxicity goes down. On the other hand, being exposed to a wide range of personalities in the dating arena isn’t a bad thing either. It allows for one to make different opinions of what does and what doesn’t work for you. I think it’s really up to the individuals involved to decide what works for them and how they operate. What works for person A may be a disaster for person B and so forth. To each their own as they say. Plus, a couple could always take marriage counseling early on before things start to build up. Take classes as a preventative measure so that they will be able to deal with issues as they arise (not if but, when) and they will arise. I would think a downside to someone who dates a lot of people and then disappears once conflict enters the scene would display a character flaw anyways. It shows me that they can’t handle issues in a healthy manor. So, when they do get married, I would expect them to lean quickly towards divorce sooner and then just move onto a new relationship instead of fixing the one that they have. We do live in a disposable society after all and this isn’t a good thing. People give up on people much too often. It takes someone with grit to stick through the good and the bad. Life isn’t just a walk through a rose garden, there are a lot of bad patches ahead, so if you can demonstrate that you can actually roll with it and fix issues when they arrive, instead of jumping ship at the first sight of rain, that would be a good example of someone who has character. Going from one date to another to another to another, does not display grit at all. But rather someone who may have a bit of an ego, and lacks the long-haul attitude. Though going through a phase of random dating could be good, it should most certainly not be a primary got to tool in one’s tool bag.