Alright, I admit it.

If I would have been in the Garden of Eden, I would have succumbed to the temptation of eating the proverbial apple.

Except, in my case, I most likely would have not taken just one bite of the forbidden fruit, but rather, would have consumed a whole apple cobbler.

Some things are just too tempting for me to pass up-such as the material that I am referencing for this week’s column.

Sure, a stronger person would have tossed it and gone to the next article in hopes of finding good material for a column, but not me.

As soon as I read the headline of the article, I knew I just had to do something with it.

I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, like a duck to water, like a ….well, you get the idea.

The headline read “Study Completed on Flirtatious Women in the Work Place.”

Well, I ask you, are not the results of such a study something you would want to know?

I thought so.

Now, you need to know that this was a serious study-it was not done by a bunch of “Animal House” Delta Chi’s or the likes-rather, it was done by Tulane professors who were to present their findings at the Academy of Management’s annual meeting this year.

Also, the professors interviewed only females with MBA degrees.

I think that those of you who are in the business world will be pleasantly surprised at the findings of the study.

The following is a summary.

First of all, forty-nine percent of the women interviewed (remember now, these are women with MBA’s), said that they have tried to advance in their careers by sometimes engaging in at least one of the ten prescribed “Office Flirting” categories.

Secondly, it was found that the women who were the worst flirts got fewer raises and promotions.

That’s right-chalk one up for the men, here.

Who says we men, as a species, are shallow? (I mean besides my wife, Rosemary).

It seems we are capable of seeing through such sophomoric antics of wily women.

The article got me to thinking-How would those that I work around respond to overt flirting?

So I set off to do my own study.

I reviewed the list of “Office Flirting” categories and decided to try three or four of them at work the next day.

For my “flirtatious attire” I arrived at the Chamber office wearing my powder-blue leisure suit that had been long-stored in my closet and I had it accessorized with a gold chain necklace.

I batted my eyes playfully while discussing office matters with Pat and Kelley.

I giggly responded to each of their cute comments during the day, whether they were all that cute or not.

And I feigned helplessness during the day and asked for assistance with things that I was well capable of doing.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a report on how Pat and Kelley scored in their response to “flirting in the workplace” because after a couple of hours of being around my coy antics, they both must have caught a stomach virus because they both asked to go home early because of nausea.

In summary, readers, it is refreshing to see that most businesses are looking at merit, performance, qualifications, and results when dealing with personnel matters.

This is the way it should be.

Congratulations to the majority of the women in this study who did not succumb to trying to take shortcuts.

I encourage all of our chamber members to glean the positives from this report.

(PS.

Anyone needing to borrow my leisure suit in order to do your own similar study, please call me at the Chamber and give me your waist size.)