Dating pickups that actually WORK

In My Humble Opinion
1

With all the threads lately lamenting lack of dating and/or flirting success, I thought it would be fun to talk about introductions/ approaches/ blatant pickups that actually worked in your experience.

Now, I’m hopeless at flirting, so I’ve just resorted to acting like my smart-ass self all of the time. I do admit that I am a sucker for a well-delivered cheesy line (“Are your legs tired?” kind of lines) just because it’s so balls-out that I appreciate it and think it’s funny. I also appreciate when people simply introduce themselves to me, without any extraneous crap about how my eyes are beautiful or my shoes reveal the inner depths of my soul.

A specific example of a cheesy-but-good pickup I witnessed on the subway. In the next section from me, a pretty girl was sitting on the window side reading the newspaper. There was a guy on the other side of the aisle trying to catch her eye, and when she set the newspaper down, he leaned over to ask if he could borrow it. She looked up and handed it to him. He grinned and said, “I have to keep up with my horoscope!”, elaborately opened up the paper to the horoscope section, and exclaimed, “Wow! It says here ‘a beautiful woman will let your borrow her newspaper today. Talk to her!’ Well, gosh, who am I to tempt fate?’” She laughed out loud, and they wound up talking until I got off the train several stops later. I’ll tell you, that would have worked on me. Then again, the SO says I’m really weird that way.

Any good stories to share?

2

I don’t think I’ve lived in Montana long enough to become emotionally attached to a pickup, no matter how well it worked.

A minicomputer, however…

3

You know, I thought I’d erased the “dating” part…

4

See the movie: “the tao of steve”

It offers great insights into getting chicks, and it’s set in Santa Fe, so, bonus.

I really think it’s more about things like delivery, attitude, etc. I think the line itself isn’t so important, otherwise the cheesy ones would never work and the good ones wouldn’t work much either.

5

Excellent movie, and very realistic. The “hot” chick/object of desire was hot in a normal way, not hot in the Hollywood way. Totally dug that movie.

6

This might be a little more elaborate than what you’re looking for, but anyway…

I was relatively handy with a word processor and a woman I had the hots for needed to have some papers typed up over the course of her studies. Naturally I offered to type them up for her, and we negotiated a reasonable wage.

After a while, she had to write a big term paper - and naturally I had to improve the conditions of my employment. So I told her I’d type the paper for dinner - but she had to cook it and have me over.

It worked, and we’re still together 12 years later. :cool:

7

Shortly before we started going out, my wife asked if she could brush my hair. Worked for me. Later she asked if she could braid ribbons into it and I said “No.” Rather emphatically, according to her.

8

One of my dad’s favorites from college (he says he got slapped a lot):

[while rubbing girl’s shoulder]

“Is this shirt cotton, or can it be felt?”

9

I’ve got to second Lizard’s first rule.

10

Women in my acquaintance usually decide within .2 seconds whether or not the guy is attractive enough to take seriously; this is why lines usually don’t work unless she already finds you attractive. (Remember The Sherminator from American Pie?)

Of course, every once in awhile, a guy is so charming that a woman “falls” for his line in spite of herself; a guy like this usually already has plenty of dates.

:smiley:

FTR, Mr. Levins’ famous first line to me (over service bar, when I was waitressing and he was bartending) was, “So, when are you gonna let me take you out and spend some money on you?”

How’s a girl supposed to say no to that?

11

One that worked for me in college:

“Wow. You look really fantastic naked.”

Okay, so I lived in a dorm that had a lot of partying going on…

12

Alright, a pick-up line that worked. It’s not mine: it’s what a friend of mine used.

Me and my friend were both university students at the time: this must have been 1995, 1996 or so. He was a law student, and at the faculty of law, there was this gorgeous girl who worked at the student desk (where you buy your books, get your rosters, that sort of thing). Lovely girl, always friendly, classic beauty looks. Part Russian.

Now, to get the full impact, it is important to know that the girl had a baby about 2 years before the following incident (it was a long crush).

So one night, he’s in a bar with friends, and he spots her. She’s having a drink with one of her girlfriends, seated at the bar. Now, he knows her, in a “saying hi as you pass in the street” kinda way, and he knows her first name. That’s about it.

He walks up to her, taps her on the shoulder.

Him: “Hi!”

Her: “Hey, hello. How’s it going?”

Him: “Anita, I just wanted to tell you that I’ve never seen a woman as beautifully pregnant as you.”

They’ll be married four years, this October. :slight_smile:

[sub]It loses a bit in the translation, unfortunately, but damn, that’s a GOOD line.[/sub]

13

Sometimes just being sincere about it. If you’re considering a sport then going for the most rejections might actually work.

Last one that worked for me? Talked all evening to this girl - mutual sympathy, nice conversation. Then, as I had to leave and things sadly hadn’t really gotten of the ground, I decided to thoroughly stick my foot in my mouth. “I’m leaving - you wanna come?”. Well, she said no. I’d expected that. What I hadn’t expected was to run into her again. This time she’d apparently changed her mind, after a couple of awkward minutes exchanging pleasantries she decided it was time to kiss me. And escort me out of there asap.

Don’t know if this is a technique I’d recommend though - maybe what was lacking in the first round was just a sure sign of interest on my part. Too little, too late and too damn obvious. What do you ladies think?

I’m not too good at this game. But it’s reassuring that sometimes I can get it right anyways.

14

You’d think that makes sense, but I’ve always had good luck with women that I thought where “out of my league.” As a matter of fact, I married one. But then again, I don’t have an arm gowing out of the middle of my forehead or a belly that necessitates a wheel-barrow in front of me at all times, if that’s what you mean.

15

“I would like to cook breakfast for you tomorrow. Should I call you or nudge you?”

16

sidles on up to Gundy

Fuck me if I’m wrong, but is your name Bonnie?

Okay, true story of my friend in Kansas City. We were sitting at a bar kicking back and a woman sat down next to him (my buddy) and ordered a drink. She sort of casually looked over at him and said, "You smell good. What do you have on?"

He said, "I have a hardon…but I didn’t know you could smell it."

She laughed. Lucky bastard.

Tibs.

17

The concept of “league” is a fluid one, and I should have included the caveat that I think there’s a little more to it than looks. But in a pick-up type situation, not MUCH more, and what Audrey Levins said would seem to back me up on this.
Perhaps these women you are referring to you did not actually “pick-up,” in sense that I think of someone getting picked up? It’s a fact that a person can rarely pick up someone out of their league, but people date out of their league all the time.

18

I say, “Hi, how are you?”
Small conversation passes.
I say, “May I buy you lunch/dinner some time?”

Worst line that ever worked for me:
So how about I go down on you sometime?

19

When I was single I used to fall for the simple, “why don’t beautiful girls like you go for me?”. It was like a one-way pass into my pants. I was so weak.

20

“Hey, could you look at my character sheet? I did a background, too” worked pretty well on my SO. That only works if you’re trying to pick up your ST/GM, though…