Wow -- I'm not sure what it is about me, but I have again inadvertently managed to start a thread that has elicited several scathing PMs and e-mails to me based on my OP at the top of this thread. I have been getting several each day, and I am a bit dumbfounded. So, for the record, I am compelled to address here in the principal thread many of the more ridiculous PMs that have clogged my Inbox. The "quoted" lines are lifted straight out of the PMs, and the following stadard text is my reply:

"Any man who admits that another man is attractive is a f***ing homosexual."
No, he's not; and that's just stupid. I am lucky and blessed to be happily married to a gorgeous woman, but I nevertheless recognize the physical attributes of being an atractive man...as does everyone else.

"LawFlyer is probaly f***ing Jean-Luc, and that's how he always gets his upgrades."
No, I'm not. And I am very seldom upgraded, because 90% of my flying is on paid BizFirst tickets anyway.

"LawFlyer is cheating on his wife if he flirts with the gay check-in agent in Paris. But a little flirting with the opposite sex is simple courtesy and expected socializing. If you [LawFlyer] had approached a woman agent with your upgrade flirt, it's OK. But since you were gay-for-pay, and got paid with a nicer seat, you are basically a whore and have shamed your wife and family."
Umm...WHAT?!

"You got an op-up and should have been sent back to Coach for trying to blatantly disrupt the gay agent. It's against the law there and could have also gotten the fag*ot fired. Don't you care how much this hurts the others in Coach?"
First, I may have gotten an op-up, but I checked in pretty early, and op-ups usually happen quite late in the check-in process at overseas out-stations like CDG and LGW. Second, I wasn't blatantly interrupting the agent, as all this occurred during the normal check-in process. Third, calling the agent a "fag*ot" is inappropriate -- we don't even know he is definitely gay, and if he is, I'm not sure he'd appreciate that word. And by the way, NO, it's not "illegal." That's comically insane. And fourth, I don't see how my chatting with the agent "hurt" the people on Coach.

"You are clearly bisexual and weren't thinking properly."
Again...WHAT???

Anyway, to those of you who posted sincere, thoughtful responses, I really appreciated your insights. And just as sincerely, I wish those of you who find it necessary to flame me for quite an innocuous little thread would divert your energies to something more productive than e-screaming at me for wondering aloud in cyberspace what other FT'ers' thoughts are about the upgrade flirt.

The real test: Do I attempt the upgrade flirt when flying back to CDG tomorrow night on CO 10 from IAH? Remember, that will be the return portion of the Coach roundtrip, so I might as well test it out and post the results later, of course!