Yesterday at lunch I held the door for a couple of young ladies. Not supermodels but cute in that Southside Polish, brassy bleach blonde, young enough to be my daughters, not fat but the clothes just a scosh too tight, manner that has been the death of stronger men than I. As we ate I noticed that one of them was looking at me every time I stood up. Not the quick glance I tossed in her direction but a lingering “look.” As a very fat guy reading an encyclopedia of military armaments of the 20th century my normal assumption would be that she was laughing at me but I had seen Lost in Translation the night before and was predisposed to thinking thoughts I wouldn’t otherwise and it got me thinking about how I have NEVER been able to tell the difference between interest and subtle ridicule. This served me poorly in my single days and has been irrelevant since I got married but I am wondering, thirtyfive years too late, how someone tells if someone is interested in them.
You get your best friend to pass them a note that says:
Do you like Dropzone? Circle: YES NO
OO… good idea!
Does it work if I’m not Dropzone?
No, it must be written that way exactly. Don’t worry, though. “Dropzone” is one of the secret code words used by women. She’ll understand exactly what you mean, and will respond accordingly.
AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!! It’s fourth grade all over again!
Here’s what my grandmother told me (it works for both males & females): you casually walk by the person and when it seems like the right moment, wink and say, “Hi, toots.” Their reaction will reveal their true feelings about you.
Sweet smile or silly giggle: she’s interested.
Derisive snort: she hates you.
Rolling eyes: she thinks you’re a weirdo.
Obviously she was staring at the size of the post count hovering over your head (right next to location and join date). Chicks dig that sorta thing.
I’m earthshatteringly bad at noticing when people are interested.
Luckily most of my good friends know this and now give me a gentle kick with their foot or nudge with their arm when they notice that i’m in with a chance with a girl. As a “heads up” system it works pretty well.
It does occasionally backfire though - about two weeks ago i went down to a friend of mine’s (let’s call her GariMate) 25th birthday party. When i got there, GariMate introduced me to her little sister who was in her first year of university and had come down to stay for a couple of weeks. Her sister was a nice gal, and we ended up just hanging out in the kitchen and chatting.
Anyway, about half way through the evening, her sister had to make a trip to the little girl’s room and, whilst she was gone, Garimate popped into the kitchen, walked over to me and kicked me really hard on the shin.
“OWWWW! THAT HURT! WHAT THE FECK WAS THAT FOR?!”
“Just letting you know that she’s interested.”
“Why did you have to do it so bloody hard?!”
“That” She said, smiling sweetly, “Was just a taster of the pain that will be coming to you if you touch so much as a hair on my baby sister’s head.”
:eek:
Why, yes! Didn’t you now? The universe works according to the social rules established in the fourth grade.
If you follow the rules and make sure your shoelaces are always done up properly, then you’ll coast through life quite smartly.
But to get the pretty girls, you have to make sure you have a cool lunchbox.
Trust me, I know.
tucks away Hong Kong Phooey lunchbox
Here’s what you do, dropzone - notice them looking. Make sure she’s really attractive (particularly in a Jennifer Garner-ly way, rowr) and wink at her. Then, slowly saunter your way (sexily, I might add) over her way keeping your eyes locked on hers. At this point, say hello and confidently give her my number.
I’m single and in my 20’s.
sounds like me. I read books, body language manuals, info from people who are supposedly good with women and detecting signs and i still am not able to pick this info up. Damn lack of social conditioning
If she’s grinding your lap and you’re not stuffing bills into her g-string, that’s usually a pretty good sign.
I’m notorious for not getting hints, and I too can’t tell interest from ridicule. I feel for you, Dropzone.
I generally err on the side of protecting my fragile ego, so I give everyone my best “Fuck off” look. Oddly, this doesn’t endear me to the ladies. But that’s okay, they were just ridiculing me anyway.
That’s correct. And a man who can perform “dropzone” well will never be lonely. I can almost guarantee it.
(Woman talking to friend on the phone): “Oh, we had a great time at dinner, then he took me home and I asked him if he wanted to stay for coffee. Before I knew it, he was dropzoning me and I just melted.”
Once a few years back when I was feeling playful, I wrote such a note to a friend at work. It got more outrageous as the note progressed and I was entertained as I wrote it.
Unfortunately, she thought that I was serious, didn’t get the fact that it was meant to be humor. It was quite embarassing. OK, mostly it was funny, but I’ll never act on feeling playful again…
How about if she’s straddling your lap and leaning over not accidentally?
I love that expression, Kalhoun. I think we just found a new term for intimate relations here:
“Hey baby, let’s go back to my place for a little dropzone.”
Or perhaps it could be used as a noun decribing a private place on one’s body:
“Next thing I knew, she had my dropzone out.”
Or perhaps even as an interjection:
“Get out of here before I dropzone you!”
Dear Lord, I’ve been verbified! :eek: Wife better not find out about this.
I disagree about Eats_Crayons fourth grade theory. I was fairly functional in the fourth grade. By the sixth, though, it was another story. 
Maybe (maybe?) kids at Catholic schools are two years behind the public school kids. Or maybe it was the lunchbox–Willy Ley spaceships were way cool up to '63 but by '65 everybody knew what a REAL spaceship looked like but camp hadn’t yet picked up on what spaceships SHOULD look like.
I’m guessing it’s only a problem if you’ve been failing to dropzone her pretty regularly.