I was in a big, well-known upscale department store late last week. Came across a cutie (at least she was to me, but I’m a sucker for short geeky girls with nice smiles and thick-rimmed glasses) working in the men’s accessories department. I say hi and proceed to tell her I’m looking for pocket squares because none were in sight. The whole store was a mess because it was prime holiday return week. She seemed a bit frazzed with the turmoil going on in the store, so I made eye contact, smiled, and put on some charm. She returns the gesture. She knows exactly what I’m talking about and points me in the right direction. I go there and still don’t see them after walking to where she said they were. I come back to her again after a few minutes (and after having asked a different salesperson in that area where the pocket squares were and getting a glazed stare in return) to tell her I still can’t find them and that the other sales guy doesn’t know how to dress. She laughs. I gesture subtly for her to come show me herself (without actually asking) and she laughs and begins to walk over there with me. Turns out they were in plain sight but even she had a hard time finding them because there weren’t many available, and the few that were there weren’t quite what I was looking for. I was intent on buying a wallet as well, and already had it in hand, so I told her not to worry and to just ring the wallet up. She apologizes for not having what I was looking for and I start asking why the place is such a mess, how long she’s been working there, and why nobody knows what’s going on. At this point I’m really laying on some charm because she seems sweet. She laughs and tells me she used to be one of those secret shoppers for this particular store, and eventually transitioned into sales. I was genuinely curious about that and planned to ask her to elaborate since no one else was waiting at that register, but before I get the chance to ask, she turns around with the receipt fresh from the register and begins writing down her name and number, telling me that if I’m still on the lookout for pocket squares, or “anything else”, to give her a call. She’s smiling in that funny way the whole time … not the kind of patronizing salesperson smile, but a knowing smile that tells me she knew what was going on.
Believe me, I know that priority one for those in the service industry is to smile, be accomodating, and provide good customer service, and I think I know how to tell the difference … so I ask, “Now this is the number to the store, right?” and shoot her a knowing look. She smiles and says it’s her personal line. I’m not afraid to call her up and talk, but I was shocked that I invested so little effort by just putting some charm into her day, and ended up getting a phone number out of it without even asking.
I’m still debating what the next step should be, but just thought I’d share and see if any other guys have had this happen to them.
Okay, no matter what does or doesn’t happen, this will one day be one of the memories you’ll cherish from this time in our life. And I speak from experience.
That said, don’t worry about fucking that future memory up by calling her. Really, no matter what happens, that will have been a stand-alone great moment. Call her. Since you appreciate pocket squares, you should be capable of making an ass of yourself with elegance if it comes to that.
Pocket square = handkerchief designed to poke out of the breast pocket of a man’s suit. And grats on getting the lady’s attention during such a hectic time! No matter what does or doesn’t happen, that’s a great memory.
I admire the approach. It takes balls … at least, more than Slithy Tove seems to have. He’s got plenty of condescending non-advice (which I wasn’t asking for anyway) to make up for it though.
Oh, I think that’s a foregone conclusion, but again, I was just wondering if it’s happened to anyone else, hehe.
Oh … and Oakminster, I give myself credit where it’s due but I don’t think I’m that much of a pimp yet … least not till the second date, right?
That’s great - I put the charm on all the time, and at least some of the time it definitley works, but I rarely (read: never) have had a girl take the initiative to give me her phone number without asking. Congrats, hope it works out for you.
The comments are appreciated … I don’t take praise well, I suppose maybe because in this case it’s undeserved, heh. I don’t consider myself lucky, just surprised and flattered. For all I know, she does that with every guy, and why shouldn’t she? It takes a certain je ne sais quoi of not fearing rejection to truly be lucky in life.
Hehe … no soul searching going on, Stranger. I will call her soon enough. All’s I meant to say was that the to be consistently lucky, you must consistently take chances. This is not a relationship advice thread, no need to go into attack mode. If you ever catch me using the L word, then you have permission to start yelling with big red letters … preferably if they say something along the lines of TURN BACK NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE.
