There is no such thing as luck,
only preparation meeting opportunity.
COACH LOMBARDIMeeting
Ms Or Mr Right
What to do after the two of you have exchanged
mild signs of interest from across the room? The
next step is to have a one-word conversation.
Acknowledge her every time you have the chance.
Say "Hi," nod and smile on your way to, or from the
men's room, bar, kitchen or pool. You're just being
friendly. These "Hi's" are first conversations. You
won't be a stranger when you start the second con-
versation.
You want to know, How and when do I do that?
Right? I don't mean to be glib, but it depends on the
situation and it depends on how strong the signals
were.
Since the variations are infinite, let's just get two
things straight, okay? First, the only time a man
gets rejected is when he approaches a woman who is
not interested in him. Second, after signs of interest
have been exchanged, then followed up with a
couple of nods, smiles and a "Hi," nothing bad can
happen, no matter what you do. She wants to, and
will, talk with you, period.
Meeting Ms Or Mr Right 73The information and techniques presented in the
next few pages are examples from the real world of
R. Don Steele.
HAPPY SOCIAL OCCASIONS
Here are the answers to the How and When ques-
tions from above.
At Mike's annual Summer Solstice party, Margie
and I had mild, sustained eye contact from time to
time. Later, I nodded and smiled as she passed by
on her way to the powder room, I moved into the
kitchen and waited for her to come by.
When she did, all I said was, "Hi. I'm Mike's vol-
leyball friend, Don," and offered my hand which she
shook enjoyably then smiled but only said, "Hi,
Margie," and stood there. I recovered quickly and
added, "You work at Mike's office?" She didn't, so
we exchanged the obligatory information about
what we did and where we worked then moved into
an enjoyable exchange of office politics stories and
complaints. During it all, we held another conversa-
tion without words.
Helpful Hint. At all gatherings, never park
yourself for long any place. Circulate. If you
must stop for awhile, remember that at all par-
ties, sooner or later, everyone passes through
the kitchen. It's a great place to watch the body
language as you watch the traffic.
Jean, at a wedding reception, after good eye con-
tact on and off for half an hour, I noticed that now
and then she was eavesdropping on some of my con-
versations. When the opportunity presented itself, I
butted into one of her conversations with, "Get all
the grants you can. Lie on the application if you
have to. It's your money. You'll pay it all back to the
bastards in taxes sooner or later."
That led to a discussion of the strategy behind