The Art of Dating [antikvár]

CHAPTER ISHOULD YOU DATE?I was sitting in the lounge room in a hotel in Cairo. Night was settling ^down on that fascinating Egyptian city. It was one of those delightful February'evenings peculiar to that climate, that seems made for companionship and ^adventure."tIt was a busy evening, for the luxurious steamship "Rex" had arrived at Port Said early that morning and the train had brought many tourists to Cairo.| Egyptians were diligently selling their wares. One could hear their penetrating i' voices and see their red caps as they passed the hotel window. I was listening ' to them and watching this colorful panorama, when I heard the voice of a girl * speaking the language I knew well. I thought I was in the presence of people ' whose speech was different from mine until I heard her voice. She was talking ' to another girl. As I listened further, I knew that they, too, were Americans. ^ They were rapturous over a ride that they had had on camels' backs around th^ Pyramids, when suddenly they ceased talking. Their eyes were fixed upon an af tractive young French couple, who passed through the foyer and went out into'' the night. No sooner had they closed the door than one girl said to the other, ^ "What wouldn't I give for a date tonight!" Quickly the other replied, "And I, tol' I'm tempted to date one of these Arabs."|Getting a date is the universal concern of every normal youth. The young person who has never had such interest is not acting in a normal manner. The ^ parent who prides himself on the thought that a later adolescent child "never wants to go out with anyone" should not be overjoyed but should manifest concern. "No man liveth unto himself." To attempt to do so is not conducive t(f mental and spiritual health. It is unfair to speak of the boy or girl who follows natural desires in demonstrating an interest in members of the opposite sex as "girl crazy" or "boy crazy." Thinking people will not use those words at all, which are really more descriptive of the boy or girl who never experiences sucl) inclinations. It was the wisest of Teachers who once said that for this cause, which should culminate in marriage, "shall a man leave father and mother."