That reminds me of an old episode of the British sit com Are you Being Served.

The two ladies were discussing dating, the young attractive one (Miss Brahams) complained she did not have money to buy food, because she spent it on clothes.

The older lady wondered why she just did not use her clothes money to buy food

The younger one retorted that the clothes attracted men, who took her out to dinner.

Being a southerner, paying for a meal for a woman, is simply a courtesy and way of being thankful for the conversation and the company. If I was a single man still in the dating world, (I am glad I am not, as I would never have a chance in hell of every finding anyone to go out with me) I would not have a problem paying for dinner, even if that was her only concern, as long as she were honest about not being interested at the end of the evening in pursuing anything beyond a single date.