How I learned how to get teenaged girls to let me touch them.

[MineralMan]

It was simple. I learned to dance in junior high, and then asked, "Could I have this dance?" after I got into high school. That worked great. I remember thinking, when I was 12 years old, and in the 7th grade, "Why do I need to learn how to dance?" After thinking about it for a while, though, I realized that those female human beings who were taller than me and had a different body shape would be somehow important in my life before too much time passed.

So, I went through the dancing class motions, learned to shuffle my feet around in specific ways and in time with the music, while avoiding treading on those taller people's feet. I learned to smile and how to introduce myself, even when I was uncomfortable and nervous in such a strange situation. Then, a couple of years later, all of that came together to good effect.

The self-confidence I gained also worked fine later, after I got to an age where it was no longer appropriate to ask teenagers to dance. The same basic principles still applied to adult relationships, too, even if there was no dancing.

But that was back in the early 60s. I'm not sure if kids still go to dances. We sure did back then. It was great!

[snooper2]

1. thread title...LOL

[MineralMan]

2. I worked on that for some time.

[TheBlackAdder]

14. Dang! I thought this was a Roy Moore Op-Ed on MRAsArePeopleToo.com

[BannonsLiver]

3. Terrific subject line. I nearly spit out my drink.

[MineralMan]

4. LOL!

[bagelsforbreakfast]

5. I hpoe you had their parent's signed consent - Roger Stone's minions are everywhere.

[MineralMan]

12. Not for just dancing. However, if you wanted to date a girl back then,

there was the ordeal of "meeting the parents" to go through before approval was awarded. Being polite and respectful was Job 1 for that. I learned to do that, too. I remember some nervous Dads, though. But, I grew up in a small town, and my father was the Fire Chief and very well known, so, once that information was given in answer to a typical question, things went better with the Dads.

There was this one time, though, that everything fell apart. I didn't have a car in high school, but was allowed to use the family car for dates. On one Saturday night, my parents needed the car to go to something or another. My father, in his wisdom, said I could take his pickup truck on my date. It was a first date with someone, so I drove to her house to pick her up and do the "meet my parents" thing.

Unfortunately, that pickup truck had a cabover camper installed on it. The girl's dad was not amused by the idea of his daughter going on a date in a rolling bedroom. Finally, he relented, but only if I drove their family car and left that bedroom truck parked in front of their house. It was a tense few minutes there, though.

[ismnotwasm]

6. I dare you to learn to twerk

Because kids sure do go to dances

[MineralMan]

10. At my age, twerking would probably not be advisable.

That's what I'm thinking. Those high school dances were really funny, when I think back on them. Official school events with the goal of getting boys and girls to get close to each other. Sure, there were chaperones there to break up the clinches, but the whole thing was set up for encouraging relationships to develop. Marvelous of those adults to put us in such close proximity, I think.

But, I also remember all the guys who didn't learn to dance. All standing on one side of the girls gym, while skinny awkward kids like me were out dancing with the girls.

[kwassa]

13. no twerking, but there was The Funky Chicken

start at about the 7:00 mark in this video

[MineralMan]

15. That was after my time.

We did the Mashed Potato, the Freddie, the Twist, the Hitchhike, and a few others, though. All learned on American Bandstand.

I had one steady girlfriend who pretty much forced me to watch Bandstand and learn those dances with her. We won a few impromptu dance contests, actually. We practiced dancing at her house, along with other moves.

[kwassa]

16. We did the Twist in gym class.

The Freddy was hilariously dumb, and everyone liked to do it.

[spanone]

17. Freddie and the Dreamers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_and_the_Dreamers

[MineralMan]

18. Yes. That was a singularly stupid dance.

But fun and easy. Anyone could do it.

[PJMcK]

7. You're a gentleman, MM

I learned many of the same simple lessons a few years later than you but they've worked well for me for all of these years.

I hope I've been a gentleman. My mom taught me some things that I try to live by: girls go first; be polite; say thank you and please. These seem to have worked pretty well for me.

[shraby]

8. Now from the opposite end. We girls knew we needed guys to dance with and not just

other girls at those dances that were so fun, so on the lunch hour (small school) we got permission to bring in a record player and danced the lunch time away, the boys joined in and learned to dance. TaDA

[MineralMan]

11. True, of course.

Knowing how to dance was a good thing, if you were a boy, it turned out. Still, if you didn't know how, the girls were happy to give lessons, so almost everyone caught up eventually. We didn't dance at lunch, but there was a school dance every Friday evening throughout the school year. What a time!

[GaryCnf]

9. Now I feel more stupid than usual

I thought this was an excerpt from "The Art of the Deal."

[better]

19. A shining example of why so many want you to remain among us. n/t