Well from the description I’ve been a Wingman since I was 11. Go figure. 
The wingman tactic can work in reverse as well, meaning the wingman can end up on the good end of the stick. I met Mrs. Striker because I was being a wingman to my cousin amongst a crowd of people in which I knew virtually no one. The lovely Mrs. was playing winggal for one of hre friends that was interested in aforementioned cousin. Our pleasant pass the time and not get in the way chatter progressed into flirting, which progressed into 2 kids and marriage. Said friend and said cousin ended up disliking each other intensely after about a month.
You forgot:
d) To make sure that hot chick is really hot chick and not ugly chick as seen through beer goggles.
I usually have a friend make sure I don’t pull any stupid beer-goggle moves, and that friend is usually male as are most of my friends. Of course, this also means more often than not I get to approach who I want, since most assholes won’t come right up to me, assuming that my friend is my date.
Yeah it’s not really as draconian as flirting with the ugly girl. A true wingman is an artist.
Basically women are very rarely alone, and it takes a fair amount of nerve to walk up into a 1:2 or 1:6 or whatever and be calm enough to not look like an ass. The wingman supplies the buffer. He has no dog in the fight and has no fear of making an ass out of himself. He will cover for the stupid stuff the lead says out of nervousness, steer the conversation toward the strengths of the lead, create a distraction when required etc. Yes they must be prepared to block the cock blocker(a chick who decides if she isn’t getting hit on no one will get hit on so she tankks the evening). But in general it’s more like having a valet then a lying scumbag who fakes attention in the others.
I swear, that sounds like some sort of mechanical-operation instruction manual (“do not block the cock blocker until the upper actuator assembly has been secured”).
But really, all this discussion of strategy, planning and personnel management is really making me think of better spending next Saturday night at home with a good book 
I already have a heavy-thinking kind of job…
Gee, it’s great to learn that not only do guys not find me attractive, but my women friends have been using me, too. At least my dog likes me. If I wear a pork chop around my neck.
Not trying the “my specific situation invalidates your generalization” thing or anything, but… well, according to Hot Or Not, I’m somewhere around a 4. And yet my best two female friends are staggeringly hot.
I’m obviously “Bertha” on the left. I guess this makes me “the grenade”? The wingman thing never happens when I go out with her, though, I just get ignored completely, so I guess you could be right about the phenomenon being less prevalent than the tales.
Right! On the right, I mean.
Stranger, your linked tale of woe was exactly what I needed to read tonight. And I have no idea why. But thanks.
And I hope the Jamison (and the Poe) was smooth on the palate.
Is there anyone else out there that had no idea this type of thing went on?
Yes, it’s all a complete revelation to me too.
A tragic, and yet beautifully written, VD story. I sincerely hope you’re a writer for a living! Otherwise, your considerable talents in that arena are just being wasted on us Dopers. 
The only writing I get paid for are the memos and tech reports that are immediately shredded because they are too sensitive (i.e. regarding programs that will never fly) for to read. That is, they can be read by people with a security clearance, except those are the people who know that they don’t want to read this stuff in the first place, while the people who are under the belief that there is something interesting in them can’t read them. But then, the whole defense contracting field is a big Catch-22-type sitution. It’s annoying as hell, but it has its amusements.
I once had this idea for a screenplay about this guy who finds a portal into Willem DeFoe’s head, but they said that had already been done, 'cept with a different actor, and could I please write a script for something with Roseanne Barr in it, so I gave up and went back to counting sea shells on the sea shore. Okay, that’s totally untrue, but turning vague musings into money-generating manuscripts is beyond my modest talents. I can but dream…
Stranger
Both women in that photo are totally hot, AntaresJB. So, whichever side you’re on, I don’t agree with your “Bertha” comment". You’re most definitely a cutie!
You should have said “On OUR left” and then it would look like you it was just a clarification
As a wingman, my job is to clear the road of all obstacles, leaving women disoriented, swooning, and ready to jump the bones of the next target that presents itself when I wander away leaving them in a daze. I’m the human equivalent of a toller retriever.
You don’t know what that is? Refresh my drink (and yours) and let me enlighten you. A toller is a hunting dog that prances, scampers, and does backflips on the bank of a pond or stream to entertain ducks. Yes, ducks. You go out walking with your dog on the british moors, or in nice wilderness areas, and your basic toller dog is a canine good-time charlie. Hey, I like this song, want to dance? Of course you can mambo. Anyone can mambo. Start going backwards with your right foot, then come back to me. Now go forward with your left foot, and we’ll rock back. Hey, that was great. You’re a natural. Just remember part of dancing is that you have to listen to a man. Yes, it’s sexist, but it works better that way. And it’s romantic as I hold your hand and lead you around the floor. Ready for a spin? It’s easy. Nice! Great ass you got there, and I want to see it again-- yup, really nice. Oh, the song’s over. Let’s go back to our drinks-- and hey, have you met my friend? I’ll be right back…
And I run off home to my loving wife, knowing that my rifle has more than one bullet in it
I am the redhead on the right. To be fair, it was my 21st birthday and I’d had about 6 different mixed drinks and two shots in about 45 minutes, so I didn’t really care what I looked like at that point. I appreciate the compliment, though. Too bad the guys in the bar where that was taken did not agree with you.
I figured that you were the redhead, which is a definite thing in your favor… it looks as though you’re leaning away from the camera to get in the shot (the photographer should have moved back a step), but your smile still lights up the picture.
Oh, and you need to hang out in bars with more discerning types of guys…
This site helps describe the role by using hot women to help lonely guys get dates/#s. Who better to attract hot woman, then other hot women.
Wingwoman: “Yeah, I’d totally date my friend over there, but I’m seeing someone. He’s soooOOOooo nice, and friendly, and smart too…”
Target:“oooh, thanks, I’m gonna go meet him right now!”
This fits IME. The wingman is akin to the straight man in a comedy duo - the loose cannon bounces everything off of the straight man to make himself look good.
Think of the wingman as Ed to the pointman’s Johnny.