Wednesday, October 11, 2000

Creative Ways to Meet New People

Because I have so many friends and acquaintances, I am often asked by wallflowers and other gregariousness-challenged folks how I go about meeting people and forming relationships. In the hurly-burly of this modern world, many of the structures we have for so long relied upon to bring us together seem, in fact, to keep us apart. Therefore, I am pleased to present this occasional series of pointers for those wishing to expand their circle of friends.

Creative Ways to Meet New People:
FIRST IN A SERIES

At the video rental shop or bookstore, there are often racks set aside from the primary display space featuring "Staff Selections". Here you will find a handful of new products or classic favorites, each attended by an index card listing the name of the employee who recommended the work and, perhaps, a sentence or two in their own words exalting its merits. For a sure conversation starter, select one or two of these items consistent with your own tastes and note the names of the employee(s) who made the selection. Then casually browse the store, matching your potential new friends name with the nametags of the staff. When you find a match and, if said employee appears to be someone with whom you'd like to strike up a friendship or other interaction, you should have an immediate opening chat gambit based upon your common interest in a particular book or video.

Nota bene, if you intend to employ this method as a means of meeting potential romantic partners: In my experience, the cute, jock-and-frat-type clerks in the video store are almost without exception the ones who have selected slasher films dripped with gore or action films of dubious merit which may or may not contain Pamela Anderson. The boys who have chosen tasteful Merchant Ivory costume dramas or outre independent films and seem, by their handwritten endorsements on the shelf, to be intelligent, thoughtful and sensitive young men are in fact 42-year-old Keith Richards clones.