Prior to the days of text messages, SnapChat and creeping into someone’s DMs, and even before the precursors to those mechanisms like AIM and ICQ were prominent, the way you gauged another person’s interest in you romantically was actually quite simple.
On a sheet of paper — white, ruled, graph paper; doesn’t matter — and wrote something to the effect of “Do you like me?” or “Do you want to go out with me?” and you drew three boxes: one marked “Yes,” one marked “No,” and one marked “Maybe,” because letting someone hedge was better than the cold, hard slap of grade school rejection.