One of the high comedic points of my dating life occurred when I was in my late teens. The guy was some years older than I and had, shall we say, certain expectations about how the evening would end. (Ah, the '70s!) When I said that I had yet to engage in that activity with anyone, and we certainly were not going to engage in it on our first date, his reaction was less one of disappointment than of astonishment. His exact words, delivered in a shocked tone of voice, were, "How did you become a virgin?"