Q. Last weekend I escorted my 17-year-old god-daughter to a
performance of The Barber of Seville performed by Opera Project in the grounds of Doddington Place in Kent. The object was to raise funds for the Kent Association for the Blind, and therefore all age groups were represented in the audience, from well-behaved children aged no more than five to people in their nineties, Many of these were known to me as neighbours and, as I introduced them to my god-daughter, I was startled to see her kiss them on both cheeks. Without wishing to undermine her social confidence, how can I indicate that this sort of 'Cilia Black' behaviour, clearly picked up from the television, is inappropriate?
Name withheld, Sittingbourne, Kent A. You may be even more startled to learn that kissing on introduction has, for two years or so, been the norm among smarties in statu pupillari at Oxbridge. The girl takes the lead, and the new practice is viewed as Continental and cosmopolitan rather than anything to do with the indiscriminate cheekbashing of Blind Date. But don't worry — it clearly has a shelf-life. It is one thing to be kissed on introduction by an exquisite nymphette, but the social circuit would grind to a halt if there were a fear of being serially slobbered over by more mature introducees.
Previous page
