Chatting to Strangers

Ok, so my housemate lent me a book The Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss which I have to say I dismissed as one of those 'become a playa' kind of guides. I do not want to become a 'playa'. It would at least be a 'player' spelled correctly but being able to talk to women is at least a bonus. The book is full of missions and things designed to boost confidence and help you on in the dating game. To win the game is to simply get a date. I was looking through it and one of the first challenges struck me: 'Make small talk with 5 strangers".

I kept thinking about this and decided it would be something that could definitely help me so I tried it out today and...well I didn't get a date out of it but I spoke to 5 people at least. It doesn't matter whether it expands into a full blown conversation or you just get a grunt back. What matters is that you open your mouth and say something

1. Man on the train sitting next to me. I noted that the weather was colder today. I didn't receive much of a response but he soon fell asleep anyway. 

2. Woman in Waitrose. I commented on the amount of brands of water available. She smiled and agreed.

3. Man by the traffic lights. I asked if he could feel a few spits of rain. For some reason he at first thought I said 'rangers' but he more or less agreed with me. 

4. Woman on the Tube. I commented that we were always stopped at a red light at Baker Street. She smiled. 

5. Man on the steps up to the station. Weather again. I said I hoped it wasn't going to rain and he agreed. 

I think I mentioned that I'm English and therefore if I know how to talk about two things it's the weather and the failings of the transport system. Each encounter was barely a minute but knowing that I had chalked up another person pleased me and by the end I was quite proud of myself. I may try to talk to a couple of people per day just to try and get my confidence up but that will probably fall by the wayside.

 I don't know whether I will continue with the book but just doing this was a nice exercise and may make me think I can actually open my mouth next time I sit next to a pretty girl on the train.