Dear LPG,

In my opinion British women are among the most sociable in the world.   This attribute can sometimes get them into trouble because they are inclined to be very friendly when abroad and for, whatever reason, when the time comes some fall for the wrong kind of men and can blight their lives by the expense.

I imagine many British women visiting a foreign country on vacation being thought of as a little forward and, because of their ‘sociability’ many men from countries, where women tend not to be so friendly, will eventually find that some men can misconstrue their intentions.  It is often the case that a British woman will show kindness to an individual or individuals without thinking about how the people receiving their attention perceives their actions.  If they are in a country where women are not so forward or ready to socialise with a strange man, he is more than likely to completely misunderstand her motives.  The chances are that if such a woman shows any friendliness towards such a man, he will take it for sexual availability on the part of that lady; particularly if he makes a pass and is rejected with a rebuff such as, ‘I don’t like you in that way’.  A man who has been treated in this way is more than likely to consider her a flirt for leading him on, which could be problematic, and such a situation could and often ends badly. 

I think that a lot of people will agree that history shows many instances where the sociability of the British women was appreciated by the members of the armed forces during the Second World war.   I can imagine many airmen on leave, going to the Hammersmith Palladium on Saturday night to dance, with no natives of their own countries to dance with.  So those men would have asked the English ladies for dances.  In lots of cases affairs blossomed from those dances.  There have been a number of stories put in print and on screen, since then, and people who are now of pensionable age who are the product of such relationships. I know, and know of, many that met at the ‘Pally’, married and raised families that have extended into the present generation contributing to the multicultural society that Britain has today. 

I am all for it because now that all the difficulties that were the fall-out of such relationships and the merging of different cultures has settled, few problems are likely to occur in the future.

I have to end by saying that we grandparents are in a position to remind our granddaughters of the need to take care when spreading their social forwardness and to think about exactly where they would like newly made relationships to end up.

Rudy Morgan.