This was quite an interesting thread. To say the least. Fifteen years ago, when I was a freshman in college, before the sex harrassment laws got out of hand, I recall some friends of mine going over to a neighboring campus and asking girls some "Questions". While these guys werent into tickling, and I wasnt there to see the exact nature of the questions, I do know from their personalities that some of it was in fact some type of sex survey. Most of the girls on those college campuses were very cool, and I know that many times random tickling went on between people who didnt even know each other very well. I would imagine that with all that went on, the most some administrator would have done if a girl got annoyed with any questions is to tell whoever was asking the questions to stop. I mean, yes, while technically maybe the guy asking the "survey" was "wrong", how many of us havent lied for the purpose of enhancing our interaction with women and sexual gratification? Personally, with the sex harrassment laws being as they are today, I wouldnt conduct such a survey in the current world, feeling that since people get offended and sex harrassment starts at the littlest thing, I just wouldnt feel comfortable asking women I dont know. Daring and maybe a bit thoughtless of one's own protection is how I would perceive what this guy did, but not as a crime. I happened to have been asking the girl that cuts my hair if she thought asking someone if they are ticklish is sexual harrassment. I didnt actually ask her if she was ticklish, more so just what she thought of the question and the laws. She brushed it off, saying that while she may not answer a random person who asked her if she was ticklish, and say it was an inappropriate question, she would not report the individual to the police or press a harrassment charge on the first approach. It would only be if for instance someone who worked with her every day, or a customer of hers kept asking her if she was ticklish, that she would seek legal channels. What the surveyor did was probably not right, and perhaps dangerous for himself, but not a crime as I see it. Then again, with the harrassment laws being as they are, I wouldnt do this. I limit my asking tickle questions to people I know or interact with on a regular basis, TMF girls or female pen pals who I know and either email or write me letters personally. The only exception to this rule is say if I would ask a friend if he has a ticklish sister or such, but, again, that is a personal contact.
I really enjoyed this thread. Good debate. If things were not as they are with the sex harrassment laws, perhaps us ler ticklephiles could have more of these "surveys", but, alas, with things as they are in a 21st century world, I personally will stick to situations I described above before popping tickle questions on a girl.
Mitch