A Kiss is Just a Kiss...

Have we lost the fun of kissing?  It seems that, to modern young people, a kiss leads inevitably to sex, and is not perceived as an end unto itself.  Now, when I was a girl (back in the mists of time), a kiss was pretty much all we had going on.  In my crowd of friends, anyway.  Oh, there were couples who were "going steady," and they did a bit of petting and such, but many of us were not allowed to date until we were 16, much less get into any sort of committed relationship.  Parents were uncertain as to the meaning of "going steady," but they were pretty sure it could lead to trouble.  Unacceptable levels of intimacy, at the very least.

When you kissed a boy, it was generally your third date.  First date...nothing.  Second date...a peck on the cheek.  Third date...ah...there was The Kiss.  This kiss was designed to encourage further dates, and did this by being something to think about well into the night.  And this was even before tongues were allowed into the action.  Tongues didn't enter the picture (or at least each others' mouths) for at least a couple more dates.  Any more than that required the aforementioned commitment known as "going steady."

So, that third date kiss was crucial.  An entire relationship could hinge on that kiss.  We got pretty good at it.

It was a more innocent time.  Most of us didn't know much about sex in any of its forms, and most of us were willing to proceed more slowly than kids are today.

A kiss was just a kiss...