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Playing a Mind Game with a Mind Game
“Okay, no cheesy pick-up lines and there’s only one rule: just 3 questions and I’ll be on my way. But you have to answer honestly. Deal?”
Guys, have you ever walked up to a girl who is so far beyond your league it’s actually funny?
No doubt it’s terrifying, nerve-racking and scary. However, if you do it enough times, you began to feel immune to the rejection and you start to feel like George Costanza in a sense with the oddly comforting internal reaction of, “Yup, that seems about right.” This is accompanied with a head shrug.
How is it done? Why does it look so easy in the movies and on television?
Probably because it says so in the script.
Nevertheless, it’s a matter of being creative, spontaneous and charming all at the same time. So, a new strategy must be constructed. An impromptu Trojan horse of sorts needs to be built to earn just a few moments with this stunningly beautiful girl from across the perfectly trimmed green lawn several feet beyond the crowded lines of food trucks.
Here we go:
Now standing next to her in a semi-crowded downtown park on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, I turned and said, “Okay, no cheesy pick-up lines and there’s only one rule: just 3 questions and I’ll be on my way. But you have to answer honestly. Deal?”
She looked at me puzzled like I was a living, breathing pop-quiz on quantum physics that she didn’t study for. Confused, she appeared willing to stick around to try to survive this unexpected situation/quiz…for about 5 seconds.
Better make this count.
“Question 1: Do you like surprises?”
“Well, yeah, what girl doesn’t?”
I subtly nodded in approval.
“Question 2: What qualities do you look for in the man of your dreams?”
“Alright…I want him to be sweet, nice, good-looking, athletic, caring, romantic, a good listener, spontaneous…”
I gently smiled, nodded my head, calmly turned and started walking away. She caught up to me after a few seconds.
“Hey, so you randomly stop me in the park to ask me questions, 3 of them actually, and then you just leave. And after only 2, by the way. Can you not count? What’s up with that?”
“You’re a good listener. I like that quality in a person too. Okay. Question 3: What’s your name?”
“(hesitant, she takes a deep breath) I’m Kaley.”
“Hi Kaley.”
I smile, then I slowly start walking away again.
“That’s it. Wha-” Strangely curious, she catches up to me once more, confused.
“Hey, where are you going, dude?”
Strolling side-by-side now, I turned to her with a look of assurance. “Well Kaley, it looks like we’re on our way to get lunch.”
She paused and, against all her might not to, she couldn’t help but smile adorably and flirtatiously roll her eyes at me.
Despite the oddness of it all, she couldn’t help but accept my stealth invitation.
“How’s that for a surprise?”
Getting a date with a beautiful girl by making her smile without an insincere, cheesy pick-up line?
Yup, that seems about right.
———————————————————————–
I suddenly woke from daydreaming at work as my head began to slip from my supportive right arm towards the Dell keyboard directly below.
After composing myself, I pondered, “would this actually work?”
Saturday is only two days away…
In Living Watercolor
The first Saturday of each month in Columbus, Ohio features the pedestrian-friendly event known as Gallery Hop. Occurring in the Short North, art galleries stay open late for art admirers, as well as for people who are simply curious about art (no man in a yellow hat required).
It’s a wonderful experience, having the elastic freedom to not feel wrapped into staying and slowly pacing around a gallery you find boring or uninteresting in order to appear polite to the host. If you like something, stay. If you don’t, then drink the complimentary wine quickly and move on next door.
Who knows, maybe after a few small glasses of wine, you’ll finally “get” that modern art painting?
Nonetheless, this is a wonderful night to spend out with friends or with someone you think of as more than a friend…
Unfortunately, the forecast is calling for rain tomorrow.
Fortunately, this provides an opportunity for those prepared to paint themselves as their own masterpiece.
Leonid Afremov (Chic Tip online)
On second thought, here’s to hoping it does rain…
Recent Weather Has Convinced Me of a Deep South Pole
January 23 is no ordinary day because, when written in numerical form, translates to 1/23. Or, in another sense, 1-2-3. This brings us to dating, which can be absolutely wonderful when everything clicks and a genuine connection is being made. However, there are also those occasions when things do the polar opposite (sometimes even during a polar vortex…coincidence?) and not even a Boy Scout could start a fire between the two of you.
Returning back to the forever popular sequence from above, dating is not always as easy as 1-2-3. It’s exciting, yet awkward. Sometimes, there are similarities between you and your date with a few things to discuss for a substantial amount of time. The date’s going great with a nice flow of conversation and subtle flirting. In this case, any moments of silence just seems natural and appropriate. Sometimes though, there are dates when we can basically witness our words hit a brick wall in the middle of the table.
Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
This silence is deafening and not natural.
That’s okay. It happens. Not everybody is perfectly compatible. That’s, in fact, why we date. But, for 99% of guys out there, regardless of whether the date went perfectly well or badly, we’ve experienced one of those moments when we’re sitting in our cars and we calmly reflect on the night and our articulate, purposeful and always engaging conversation with a beautiful girl sitting across from us illuminated by the gentle glow of candlelight.
Guys flipping out and overreacting to every seemingly stupid, non-suave thing we said or did on a date…that’s as easy as 1-2-3.
The Art of Serendipity
I was in a bank recently and as I approached the counter, the tellers were all fixated on a new painting from a local artist hanging on one of the walls. Some of the tellers were standing close to it, others from a distance behind the counter. Each of them was transfixed on deciphering all the shapes. One of the tellers nearby was quite stunning, so I made every effort to sound artistically insightful around her.
It was a large piece, several feet by several feet. The shapes and figures were mostly recognizable, but not completely. For instance, some people saw a jazz band, like myself. A golden saxophone, cello and the suits stood out most prominently. Then, one of the tellers pointed to a potential drum set and, after looking more intently, I concurred. However, I “saw” too large of a drum set because then she pointed out three heads of people sitting in the front row. I completely missed them as did she at first glance. We thought the “head” in the bottom left hand corner was the kick drum…
We had a good laugh about that one.
Turns out, it was a painting of a jazz band. One of the tellers was told so by the artist himself. Still, as the tellers informed me (and as I experienced personally), everybody had their own interpretation of the painting and/or some of the distorted shapes. People were still seeing different things here and there. Not everybody saw the jazz band, but then others did see the three heads of people in the front row.
Either way, the painting is very cool, it’s hanging inside a nice bank and the artist successfully sparked a conversation about his work.
Win-win-win.
Interestingly, the journey to finding the “girl of our dreams” is much like looking at a beautiful painting. Most everybody sees the obvious beauty, but it takes that one special, right person to discover how and why it’s (she’s) a masterpiece.
The first step, in some situations, is casually starting a conversation with a stunning bank teller despite the crowded presence of her fellow female tellers, perhaps about a piece of art hanging inside a bank. Then, it’s about asking her out to dinner as smoothly as the strokes of paint in a prominent wall decoration.
Afterwards, maybe she’d find it fun to catch a set at a jazz club…
If so, talk about life imitating art.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 