Search Results: collecting things

Millions commemorated Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday this week. But what happened to the strange tradition of Kissing Friday? Until about the start of World War Two, the girls of Yorkshire were allowed to finish school before their male colleagues - at least for one day a year. The reason was that on Kissing Friday, boys were allowed to kiss them without fear of getting a slap or being chased by an angry parent. On Kissing Friday, "boys could kiss the girls until 12 noon, but they had to catch them first, which resulted in much chasing round the schoolyard". On the same day, the village of Sileby in Leicestershire took thing even further. Its variant of Kissing Friday was known as Nippy Hug Day, and if any female spurned the offer of a kiss, the male was allowed to pinch her bottom, a practice known as "lousing". Some boys strung ropes across the street to create a makeshift "toll" point, where they collected kisses.

These traditions largely died out by the middle of the 20th Century, but appear to have been uncontroversial at the time. In 1938, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported how Kissing Friday had been the greatest day of the year among children before World War One, and that boys had been kept behind after school for an hour to delay their approach. The event was still being celebrated, but in a "less boisterous fashion than formerly". A year later, in 1939, the Leeds Mercury said there was "no evidence that the custom is being allowed to die. As part of the custom, the girls at local schools are allowed to go home before the boys are allowed out. But not all of the girls avail themselves of the opportunity."
But Kissing Friday faded soon afterwards. There was an attempt to revive Nippy Hug Day in Sileby during the 1970s, but it didn't last. By 1990, the Leicester Mercury quoted women in the city bemoaning that men, imbued with modern ideas of sexual equality, "don't seem very keen this year".

So, what do you think of Kissing Friday?

Agree or disagree? or does it depend on the collection?

Now this is a tricky one, I think.

There I was, eye in eye with the girl I fancy, at the end of the second date, although we have never called it dating in the first place. I'm about to leave, but don't want to get out of the door before asking that one question:
"I like you and I would like to see you more often. I think you're very interesting. And I know you're shy. But I also know this can be difficult, as we are colleagues. What do you think?"
We have straight eye contact for a couple of seconds until she replies:
"Good night!"

It's already a couple of months ago since I've noticed that she is interested in me. We have been emailing back and forth the last 4 weeks about many common interests, from fantasy books to cultural differences. Sometimes daily, sometimes with a few days in between. She agreed to have dinner at my place one week ago. Then she agreed to have a second dinner and she chose to have it at her place. We both cooked. Everything was perfect. She was laughing. We were talking for hours. 7 hours straight, to be exact. Apart from the dinner and talking, I even taught her a bit of bachata (Latin dance). It was 2am when we sat close together. My heart was beating like hell and I went in for the kiss. But it never came. My hand was gliding from her neck to her back when she moved away her head and softly called my name, as a way to say stop. So, I reacted that it was getting late and I had to go home. When I was collecting all my belongings, she acted as if nothing had happened, but so, I couldn't leave without asking that one question.

And her response: "Good night!", it is an answer that is no answer at all. But still it says so much. I just cannot figure out what it means. Is it more likely a maybe than a no? And most of all, how should I react now? One thing I'm convinced about: I shouldn't ask her the same question again. Tricky additional thing is that I might see her at the job again next week.