Off Topic: Good Manners Vs Flirtation


Saw the above meme doing the rounds on facebook this week, I have to agree. There is nothing more embarrassing than having good manners mistaken for flirtation. It's a subject that I've touched upon on this blog a couple of times before, but in my own life it seems that this one is an issue that isn't going to go away any time soon. I try to be a good person. I try to be polite. I try to listen to the other person's point of view, even if I don't agree with it. But that doesn't mean that I am trying to flirt with you. 

And, honestly, most of the people I encounter on a regular or semi-regular basis know this. Mostly, the people I know who mistake friendliness for flirtation do so because it gives them a bit of an ego boost, respond politely and take it in their stride.

So is there any cure for this affliction? Hmm, probably not, unless manners suddenly become fashionable, or if people who use manners in order to get something in return stop doing so. Or you know, if that meme really affects the minds and hearts of enough people. But I suspect it will soon just become forgotten, you know, like that other meme about ...

Comments

Andrew Leon said…
I have never noticed or experienced anyone mistaking friendliness for flirting. However, I have known plenty of people who tried to flirt and mask it in friendliness saying, "oh, I thought I was just being friendly."
2 October 2013 at 12:02
Kathryn White said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
2 October 2013 at 19:27
Andrew Leon said…
To some extent, I think that's because so many people don't really have a clue about their own intentions.
2 October 2013 at 21:59
Kathryn White said…
Or people are not honest with themselves about their intentions?
2 October 2013 at 22:01
Andrew Leon said…
Well, that's true, too.
3 October 2013 at 01:27
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