What I’m particularly frustrated about is not telling the difference between flirting and friendliness (the line is blurry and that’s okay) but when specifically it’s okay to escalate to physical touching.
I’m afraid this isn’t going to be helpful, but like everything else, it depends. Touches too can straddle the line between friendliness and flirtation, and mere physical contact needn’t be an escalation at all. A glancing contact with someone’s hand when passing them something isn’t. Prolonging that contact is. Clapping someone on the shoulder is usually just friendly, but adding a squeeze intensifies that.
What I’m particularly frustrated about is not telling the difference between flirting and friendliness (the line is blurry and that’s okay) but when specifically it’s okay to escalate to physical touching.
I’m afraid this isn’t going to be helpful, but like everything else, it depends. Touches too can straddle the line between friendliness and flirtation, and mere physical contact needn’t be an escalation at all. A glancing contact with someone’s hand when passing them something isn’t. Prolonging that contact is. Clapping someone on the shoulder is usually just friendly, but adding a squeeze intensifies that.