Getting the flirt on
Emboldened by her words, I decide on an exercise. I will execute a full-frontal flirt. I will find a suitable target — a stranger — put myself in his path and say something really flirtatious, something bold that would have made my eyes roll in a previous life.
For weeks, I look for an opportunity. I have worked out a possible scenario with the muscular guy in my kettlebells class — the one who can lift the heaviest-handled iron ball with one hand, from a sitting position. But he’s away the week I’m planning to flirt with him — and a bunch of newcomers in the suddenly all-female class hog the lightest weights, leaving me flirtless and pumping more iron than planned.
Then one morning, while walking the dog, an opportunity presents itself.
Taking the plunge
A handsome West Indian man walks out of his house, whistling tunefully, as my schnauzer wanders onto his lawn to sniff the grass. He stops the melody and whistles to the dog, trying to call her over.
“Nice dog,” he says.
A light goes on in my head.
“Nice whistling,” I say. I lock eyes, smile confidently, walk away and then glance back at the man twice, just to make sure he understands what just happened.
He walks back into his house, whistling a tune again, his shoulders straighter now, a light smile on his face.
Bull’s eye.
I’ve made my peace with flirting. I’ve decided to do it — now that I understand it. This may work better for me in my fifties and beyond than it ever did before.
I’m looking forward to the day I hear, “My grandmother is such a flirt!” I fantasize about staying in my home in downtown Toronto long into old age, without the slightest intention of selling, entertaining handsome young real estate agents. We’ll flirt all afternoon, and they’ll leave wondering if they’ll get the listing. Or maybe I’ll be left to flirt in the hallway of some nursing home.
I just plan on staying connected to my femininity — whatever the environment. Maybe Coco and I will have lunch occasionally and update each other. Maybe, someday, I’ll be able to give her some flirting tips.
This article originally appeared in the October 2008 issue of More
