So it’s been a while. I think Aubrey and I have been waiting to see if our compadres would weigh in on the blog, but alas, you will have to wait to hear their sweet, sweet tales of singledom. I’ve decided to try to analyze and understand flirting, probably because I’m super bad at it; I will usually either laugh at everything you say or tease you relentlessly until you want to go home and cry. (Who has two thumbs and is a keeper? I’m a Hufflepuff!) Flirting, I have found, changes depending on location, and today I would like to figure out what the heck gets into people when water is involved.
It takes me back to last summer, when I already knew that I would not be one of the first girls to be hit with a water balloon at a ward water fight. I just don’t give a fun reaction, at least not in comparison to a talented and experienced water flirt- these are the girls who seem to have a sign over their head: “Get me wet! I will get mad in the most adorable, feminine way ever.” Yeah. You get me, you may get an entire bucket dumped on you. (Was it worth it!? I didn’t think so.)
Water flirting gets more complicated because we are part of a religion that stresses modesty so strongly that when you end up in swimsuits around the opposite sex, it can be intimidating and more than a little awkward. The gentlemen I am aquatinted with are used to seeing ladies in knee-length grandma shorts and a tee shirt at the very least, thus it is very surprising when she’s wearing a tight bodysuit and now her arms and legs are out for display. I am sure these boys are thinking “what the heck, put that away woman (except not really let’s go swimming everyday!)” And as for us ladies, well we are pretty crazy about a farmer’s tan and we do not mind the surprise of you gentlemen looking good in your swim trunks. (He has abs? I didn’t know he had abs…)
So you have this odd combination of vulnerability and attraction that just leads to people doing all kinds of things they would not normally do. I ask you, what is there really to do when you go swimming with a group of friends? You don’t swim laps or just float around aloof from each other, every activity involves touching er’body. Like water basketball or that game where you sit on somebody’s shoulders and try to push the other one over (chicken fighting?) or dunking, or wrestling, or Marco Polo (tag still counts as touching, ha!).
Recently my group of friends went to a natural hot spring in the area, and we did have an adorable water flirt with us. I love her to pieces, and I covet her ability to be in people’s bubbles and not feel weird about it. Some of the basic aquatic flirting that happened that evening were dunking and scalp massages. I actually love playing with guys’ hair and I am not bad at kneading some guy’s head, but if I tried to give a guy a head massage or establish any other type of contact, I would be unsuccessful, so I usually opt to sit and observe. But sadly, observation doesn’t lead to new-found abilities, it just leads to wildly insightful blog posts. ;)
