Dating

I feel like as people of this world we have forgotten the importance of dating. First let me explain what a date is. A date consists of three fundamental things. Is it payed for, planned, and are you paired off. When you have all three, then you will know for sure that it is a date. You may ask why this is important, well to build a lasting relationship dating is the sturdy foundation. Dating is what you build off of so it better be pretty secure.
Dating gives you the option to see the other person in different settings and in different situations. Is your date a good sport when he loses? Does your date enjoy the outdoors? The only way to truly get a feel for their personality is to create moments together where you can find out how they act. In today's world there are too many people just hanging out. I didn't think this was that big of a deal until I realized, if all you do with your significant other is hangout, lets say at his apartment, what exactly are you gonna learn? You may learn that he is really good at cuddling because you both sit on the sofa and watch movies while there. Maybe you learn that he is a good roommate because he always asks his roommates how their days have been and cleans the dishes for them. These are all good things, but how will you ever learn if he is a sore loser or that he is afraid of heights from staying at his place all the time.
The main purpose of dating is figuring out what type of person you want to marry. Marriage is such a big step, so we should treat it as such and make sure that we go on dates. We need to make sure that we are not just hanging out. From my experience, dating has taught me a lot. One date I went on, I went to a game night. I enjoyed myself a lot because I love playing game. He enjoyed playing games too but something was a little off. You could tell that the more he lost the worst his attitude became. Now he could hide it well but for an easy going board playing person like me, it just didn't feel right to continue farther. I didn't want someone who couldn't have fun playing the game no matter if they won or lost. I also went on a date with another guy and he took me on a date to make bread. There I saw how patient he was while waiting for ingredients or how nice he was to help others make bread too. Now I don't have any more experiences with ether because I didn't want anymore, but I think you get the point.
Dating is such a benefit if we use it for our advantage. The qualities that are able to be found out from simply dating is astounding. One personal thing that I look for is if my date is on time. I cannot stand lateness so right off the bat, I am a little skeptical if they show up late. This teaches me so much about what type of person he is. So me just being curious, what qualities do you guys look for while on a date? I hoped you enjoyed my insight and I wish that everyone makes an effort to go on more dates and hangout a lot less.