or anyone, really

1. try and understand what they’re saying, even if you keep thinking they’re just stupid or insane.
2. try and get their jokes- try out their perspective on what’s funny.
3. remember that, like teenage girls, they are still largely a loose accumulation of how the world’s been marketed towards them, by corporations and by their parents.
4. try and look past the performance of “boy” to see the person that’s trying to figure out who he is.
5. make eye contact, but remember that too much eye contact can be aggresive and threatening.
6. let them get away with changing their minds about things.
7. let yourself change you mind about things.
8. don’t be afraid to have a personal conversation, but be careful about bringing up personal and potentially embarassing things in front of other people. Nobody likes this, but with teenage boys you may find yourself facing a group ganging up on you and teasing you led by the teenage boy you made feel vulnerable.
9. enjoy a dirty sense of humour if it’s not hurting anyone.
10. don’t let them get away with hurting people, in a way they think they’re doing it to impress you. Once they find out you’re more impressed by kindness and intelligence you may find them much more interesting to be around.
11. don’t censor yourself and don’t worry about saying the wrong thing. Just keep figuring out how to be yourself, and you’ll find people who make that easy.