The Ultimate Role Model

“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me”.  Mae West

Mae West was a woman ahead of her time. She knew the power of a woman’s sensuality and used it without shame or self-judgment. She was a woman who lived full out without concern about what anyone thought of her. In fact, I just learned that she wrote a play titled “Sex” in 1926 that landed her in jail for ten days.

What I like most about Mae is that she was a champion flirt. She flirted with her audience, the camera, and every one of her leading men. As a single woman living in New York City, I decided it was high time for a little flirting experiment. I was nervous at first – but it isn’t as complicated as I thought. My friend, Mama Gena, defines flirting as “enjoying yourself in the presence of another”. Sounded easy enough, so I took my flirt out for a spin.

I eagerly started my morning on the Starbucks line and complimented the man behind me on his tie. I got a smile and a thank you – which I considered a great accomplishment since he hadn’t had his morning coffee yet. Next stop on my way to the subway was a drop off at the dry cleaner. I thanked him for doing a great job with my new dress and he gave me a 20% discount on the alteration. Nice! I said good morning to an elderly man on the subway as I offered up my seat. He told me I was a sweetheart. How true!

When I arrived at work, I attempted to flirt with this cute guy from my office, but he never even looked up from his computer. I’ve always wondered if he was gay. I was disappointed, slightly embarrassed and considered packing up my flirt for the day when I was reminded that flirting really works.

How do I know for sure? Because Mae said so in my favorite quote of all “I’ve been in more laps than a napkin.”