Re: Flirting: Party Etiquette
PCG: what exactly about what I said that put me in the catagory of "these kinds of women"? And what exactly did you mean by "these kinds of women"? People who actually talk to others of the opposite sex without first thinking of marriage? or...what?
That aside:
A smile and wait and see are not exactly stripping on the bar and leaning out for money. Simply talking to someone and finding out about them is neither (a) flirting or (b) making a bad impression of yourself. And if you don't like them, you be polite and keep the conversation light, afterall, it's just a party, not an auction where the top person gets married. Also, being friendly is a sign of tolerance and also, in my Bible, a directive from God. It tells us to reach out to people, not women reach out to women, men to men, to all people.
I was a bit insulted, but now I'm sort of over it, but if it creeps in here please forgive me, I'm trying to be friendly and straightforward. I really do like the person you portray here even with the quirks.
I want to say this nicely, like I was trying to before. You may wish to stop looking at meeting men as a way to marriage and just meet people (not just men) and focus on being friendly. You were hurt by that other guy and now it seems you have a couple of issues with being outgoing to the point where you push others (especially men) away. 50% of the population is male and one of them is a mate for you. You need to mingle and be friendly in order to find that person, not wall yourself up and blame men for it. Your feeling cheap and degraded is because of the way people treated you or lectured you when you opened up, not because you did anything wrong.
People are not always going to live to your standards or your ideals, that doesn't mean you don't be friendly.