Q Dear Miss Abigail:
I recently discovered that I have been flirting with far more girls than I had realized. Please, I need to know where the line is between flirting and a witty conversation.
Signed,
Wondering in Wisconsin
A Dear Wondering:
Just curious ~ how exactly did you come to this realization? I’m picturing you mid-flirt, suddenly speechless. Whoa.
Personally, I think flirting is a good thing. But I understand if you feel you need some guidelines. There wasn’t any advice on this topic in my books aimed directly at boys, so I’ve done a bit of editing to the following passage. It’s pulled from a chapter titled “Boys, Boys, Boys” in Enid Haupt’s The Seventeen Book of Etiquette and Entertaining. I think it works quite well for either sex, don’t you?
1963: What About Flirting?
Yes and no. Yes if you flirt because you like the [girl] ~ or [girls] in general. Yes if you flirt to flatter the [girl]. Yes if you flirt lightly and naturally ([boy] talking to [girl]). Yes if [boys] are your friends too.
No if you flirt only to prove you can make the [girl] interested. No if you plan to drop [her] the moment [she’s] interested. No if you flirt to take [her] away from a [boy] who really likes [her].No if [boys] think you’re bad news to have around.
Source: Haupt, Enid H. The Seventeen Book of Etiquette & Entertaining. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1963.
~ p. 48 ~