Etiquette of Where to Meet

A young man ought never to set a time for such a rendezvous at an hour when he is not sure to be free. He should always strive to be at the appointed place in advance of the time set, so that the young girl will not be the one kept waiting. The young woman, on the other hand, while she should not keep the young man waiting, should not arrive ahead of time.

“A bad beginning makes a bad ending.” –Euripides

ACCORDING to strict etiquette, of course, a young man, if he has an appointment with a young woman, meets her at her own home, and escorts her from thence to their destination. He does not suggest that she meet him at the corner drug store or that they make their rendezvous a park bench under a certain tree or the lobby of a certain hotel or the public library reading room or a railroad station waiting room.

However, for practical purposes this rule cannot always be carried out. The busy young man, who works at some distance from the residence section town, sometimes finds that he is quite. unable to take the time needed to go to a young woman's home and then accompany her to the theater or party as they have planned. There is then no very sensible reason why he should not feel free to ask the young woman to meet him half way. That is, of course, unless they are members of the ultra formal society in which such a thing would be looked upon askance. There is nothing inherently ill-bred about it. 

Then, too, the young woman and young man who work in the same neighborhood often find it convenient to meet each other after business hours for dinner or the theater. It would be absurd to insist that they have to meet then in the young woman's home. But one or two simple rules ought to be observed in this matter of meeting outside of one's own home. A young man ought never to set a time for such a rendezvous at an hour when he is not sure to be free. He should always strive to be at the appointed place in advance of the time set, so that the young girl will not be the one kept waiting. The young woman, on the other hand, while she should not keep the young man waiting, should not arrive ahead of time.

It is never in good form to make your rendezvous a hotel lobby or reception room unless you are planning to have luncheon or dinner there. There are some people, to be sure, who make use of the hotels in this way, but it is in rather poor taste. Even when planning to meet a young woman for luncheon or dinner at a hotel it is better to arrange to meet her in the reception room than in the lobby where she must, usually walk or stand or at least encounter something of a crowd. —By Mary Marshall Duffee, for McClure Newspaper Syndicate, 1923

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