In Mexico you smile if you want sex...

Today I went to the bank and, as I was taking my place in the line, I noticed this ruggedly handsome guy - who, by the way, was looking at me. I was flattered and, of course, smiled. This seemed to come as an unexpected development to him since he nervously looked away... However, just as I was starting to wonder whether I had got myself into an embarassing situation, I saw that he kept turning shyly every now and then with a very slight smile... Now, mind you, this was no young school-girl-like guy, he was easily in his late forties (not to mention he looked quite masculine and fit) and this behaviour was very odd - that was, at least, until I realised what was happening.
You see, I have been living with my American boyfriend for about a year now and some of his customs have kind of stuck... What do I mean? Here is a story that explains it quite clearly:
When my boyfriend came to visit me for the second time, I could not be with him all day since I had work and my studies to attend, so he got to wander about on his own for a while. At night, when I met him for dinner he told me how nice and "friendly" us Mexicans were... I asked him why that was and he nonchalantly said "well, today a bunch of guys kept smiling at me in the street and on the metro!"; I was sort of expecting this since he has very unusual looks for our standards (blonde, blue eyes and white as can be) and he was basically fresh meat. I explained that this so-called "friendliness" was nothing but an invitation to have sex with them - he, of course was baffled and did not believe me. He explained that in the USA it is very common to be friendly and smile at people in the street; what is more, at the bars it is a very usual occurrence to go up to strangers and start up a chat, not necessarily with the objective of hooking up. Instead of getting into a big argument, we went to my mother's house and I told my sister that some guys had smiled at him in the street and he smiled back; her immediate reaction was to say "did you want to have sex with them?" - he laughed and understood.
When I went to DC, I was the shocked one - people I had never met were hugging me and touching me and smiling at me! I did not know what to think...
Today, I think it is because in the USA being a slut is not as frowned-upon as here in Mexico. We tend to have more double standards about that here - if we have sex with someone, there is usually a lot of drama afterwards (the whole "what now" part) or we choose to ignore each other, pretending nothing ever happened.
I think this allows for people to be less worried about what will happen if you talk to someone new in a bar... And why in Mexico, in the 'bear' bars people just stand around in an 'I'm-too-good' pose...
So... As the title says... In Mexico you smile if you want sex... But what do you do if you just want a good chat or a friend??

Wolf out!