How do I show respect for others is something that we should all ask ourselves especially when dealing with people face to face?
A couple of weeks ago there was a bit of an uproar here in Australia, when a male cricketer (Chris) was being interviewed by a female sports journalist (Mel). Now what happened was that Mel walked up to Chris as he came off the field and he immediately started flirting with her, she turned her head and cut eye contact and clenched her jaw, when he’d finished his flirting she gathered herself and then asked him a question in regards to the game and he anwered, she then said ‘we’ll leave it there’ and he said ‘maybe we could have a drink after the game’. She walked off camera.
Now, the following is just MY opinion here, OK? I personally don’t have any issue with either sex having a bit of a flirt, (I’m also talking about two single people not people in relationships) flirting can be fun, it can boost your ego and when two people are enjoying themselves with the flirting it is harmless.
In regards to the above scenario, I think so many people got it wrong they were saying that it was inappropriate for the workplace, c’mon, I wouldn’t be with my GG if we hadn’t done some flirting in the workplace!
What he in fact did, was he disrespected her as a person, not as a female, as a person. I don’t care which person instigates the flirting, this is not in any way an ‘anti-male’ tirade, however, when you put forward some comments that are obviously flirtatious and the recipient is obviously, either uncomfortable or doesn’t respond, then you should immediately apologise for what you said and just get back to whatever it was you were saying or doing. By continuing with it (as in this instance Chris did) it was completely disrespectful to Mel, she obviously didn’t want to participate but he just ignored it and kept going. That is what I personally had an issue with.
I also hated it that people were saying that she should ‘lighten up’ or ‘get a sense of humor’, this is about being respected as a person. If someone doesn’t want to join in the fun, then they don’t have to. They shouldn’t be made to join in and do something that they are uncomfortable with. If you got a smack on the bum at work from a colleague who had a laugh when they did it and you weren’t comfortable with that, should you just ‘lighten up’ I mean after all, they were just having a ‘bit of fun’ right? I don’t think so, there is no difference.
We are all wonderfully different in our sense of humor, and if you don’t think something is funny then you shouldn’t have to ‘join in’ for want of being ridiculed if you don’t.
Now, back to the incident, a lot of people then compared a female weather presenter who flirted with a guy on the beach a few days earlier wanting to know why an outcry wasn’t made – you know why? Because he quite openly joined in. He knew he was on camera in the background and when she called him over he laughed and joined in and when she asked if he was single, he replied he wasn’t single but was very happily engaged. Therefore, no-one was being disrespected so it wasn’t an issue as they both laughed about it.
When Mel had turned away and wasn’t joining in Chris should then have apologized instantly and said, “what would you like to ask me about the game?” then I don’t believe anything would have been said. Because he would have been showing her respect. I mean, you don’t know if someone is interested unless you have that bit of a flirt, when they obviously show they’re not, then stop it!!!!
I think it would be a very sad world if people weren’t allowed to flirt, or have a bit of fun, but when you’re dealing with people face to face, a bit of respect for what each other is feeling needs to be put first.