Keep It Simple Stupid

Since being in New York I've realized a couple things. One of them is that there is a disproportionate amount of douche bags, lame guys, creeps weirdos and cornballs in the city. I'm not saying I'm Don Juan or anything, but there are a lot of guys here who have no idea how to talk to girls. There are some things you just don't say or do. I went out about two weeks ago with two girl friends and I saw and heard some of the most ridiculous stuff.

One guy came up to one of the girls and said "So, what's the thing you regret most in your life?" What? What ever happened to questions like 'what's your name?' and 'hi, how're you?' He skipped to the 5th or 6th date before he even asked the girl her name or told her his. Not good. If you're already riding the relationship Delorean before you've properly met, then what's that say about two months down the line? Are you going to introduce her to your parents on the third date and propose on the fifth? Keep it simple stupid.

Another guy came up, while I was dancing with one of the girls and cut in. I didn't necessarily care because she wasn't my girlfriend but, as I discussed before, she could've been. So this guy comes up between us while we're dancing and gives her a rose. But he doesn't just give her the rose, he puts in her hair sensually, like it was in Spain or someting. We're not in Spain. What the hell are you doing? That's creepy. Keep it simple stupid.

Another guy just came up and started dancing. Nothig wrong with that, depending on how you do it. This guy's approach was to dance close enough to say, hey, I wanna dance with you, but far enough away that if she wasn't going for it it would look like he was just dancing by himself and enjoying the music. But she humored him and danced for a bit. The only words he said to her the whole time were, "You're hot." I don't need to tell you all the reasons why that's bad.

And finally, another guy just stared from afar. But not in a shy 'I want you to notice me noticing you so you'll think I'm cute and come over and talk' way. Most guys that do that sort of turn away sheepishly when they get caught. This guy just kept looking—like he thought he was smooth or something. Only thing is this guy never got the memo that that doesn't come across as smooth. It comes across as creepy. But my friend made the mistake of telling us, which made us look over at him, which gave him the idea she was talking about him, which made him come over. That's the worst thing he could've done in that situation. Bad idea. It's one thing to be a starer, but I think a girl would rather be creeped out from afar than close range. The only thing worse than a stareer is the starer who comes over to talk. Keep it simple stupid.

And that is all the advice I have. Don't try to impress a girl, just be impressive. Just tell her your name. Ask her hers. It seems lame, but in a place where people are killing themselves before they even get introduced, somebody keeping it simple is a welcomed relief.

Dance At Your Own Risk

I can't stand dancing with girls when they're drunk. Don't get it twisted, it's not because I don't like drunk girls. I just hate it when you can't tell whether she's actually dancing or about to fall. Every time she makes a move you have to stop dancing for a split second—with your hands and arms extended like you're accepting one of those huge high school lunch trays—to get yourself in position to catch her. Not because you're worried about her safety, but because, like it or not, if you're on the dance floor with somebody, they're yours. For five minutes and fourteen seconds, or for however long music shall play and you two shall dance, to everybody in that bar, that's your girlfriend—for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till next song due you part, for as long as you two shall dance. As long as you're dancing with her, guys aren't going to approach her, and if you're cute, girls are going to look at her like she's a slut for being with you (if you're ugly they could care less). If she falls, the egg is on you too. If she looks stupid, you look stupid. You're her "dancefloor" boyfriend. For the rest of the night people are going to whisper to their friends, "That's that guy who let his girlfriend fall down on the dance floor," when you pass by. You're stuck. And no guy is going to step in and take her from you. First, you may be her boyfriend. Second, who wants to be seen with the girl who everybody already saw belligerently fall down while dancing? That makes you no better than an ambulance-chasing lawyer or a hunter who only goes after the young, sick and wounded. Nobody wants that. Even if a girl is hot, she's just the hot girl who got drunk and fell at the bar. Not sexy. Inevitably, once you get comfortable and start thinking she's not that drunk or she isn't going to fall, she's going to fall. And you're left to pick up the pieces. Because if she's drunk enough, she will cry. And there she is, drunk-whimpering on the floor, while you stand there, arms out, with that "she's not my girlfriend, I don't even know her" look on your face. So don't do it. DO NOT dance with drunk girls.

How Cruel is That?

You know what sucks: the physical inability to pronounce the very disease or impediment that burdens you. Cancer patients can say cancer. People with arthritis can say arthritis, but people with a lisp can't say lisp to save their lives. You know it's bad when you have something and can't say it. What's worse is the technical term is called sigmatism. Even more s's. Terrible. Who's in charge of naming these things? They have a pretty good sense of humor. First they name a disease characterized by bad breath halitosis. A word that begins with an h, when everybody knows you don't want people with bad breath saying h-words. Then they make the impediment that makes people unable to pronounce s-words full of s's.