Perfect Behavior: A Guide for Ladies and Gentlemen in All Social Crises

HINTS FOR STAGS Let us suppose, for example, that you are a young man who has been invited to a dance to be given at the East Shore Country Club. It is your original intention, let us say, to attend as a “stag,” but on the afternoon of the party you receive a note from a young lady of your acquaintance asking if you would be so kind as to accompany to the ball a guest of hers, a “sweet girl from South Orange” who was in her class at college. The correct costume for a dance of this sort is usually a dinner coat with a black or white vest, and when you have robed yourself correctly, you should drive in your car to the young lady’s home. There you are presented to the sweet girl from South Orange, who is six feet tall and has protruding teeth. After the customary words of greeting and a few brief bits of pleasantry, you set off with your partner for the dance. Arrived at the East Shore Club, you find the party in “full swing,” and after shaking hands with your host and hostess, you should ask your partner if she would care to dance. The first three times that she steps on your left foot, you should politely murmur, “My fault.” But when she begins to sing in your ear it is proper to steer her over toward the “stag line” in order to petition for an injunction or a temporary restraining order.