Well, that was a new experience

[wshaffer]

I got clumsily propositioned by a would-be pick-up artist at the Metal Alliance Tour show in San Francisco last night. I'm not sure which I found more amusing: his clumsy attempts at rapport building ("Can I tell you a truth? I know nothing about this band, but they seem pretty awesome."); his woefully transparent attempts to impress ("I used to be a very famous sculptor." I ask him which medium he worked in. "Oh, all of them." Riiiiight.); or his face-saving response to my declining to spend the night with him. ("It wasn't exactly an offer. I just wanted to know where I stand.")

At least he buggered off quickly and politely when I made it clear that I wasn't interested.

Seriously, though - who does this kind of thing at a Behemoth concert?

Comments

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Ah, now I have the perfect response for the next time I'm in one of those situations where I don't want to be rude, but I feel some need to verbally recognize that my interlocutor has said something completely ridiculous.

(In the event, I think I rather quizzically repeated, "All of them?" while a voice in my head ticked off, "Stone? Wood? Metal? Plaster of Paris? Butter? Chocolate pudding?" But a simple, "Oh, wee lamb," would have done better, I think.)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Right -- because it doesn't sound like he was being skeevy or gross. Just, y'know, trying really hard . . . and failing.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

There is a touch of skeeviness that creeps in whenever someone seems to be consciously applying pick-up artist techniques, because a lot of PUA is more or less framed as "Women are vending machines who will dispense sex if you push the right sequence of buttons." On the other hand, your average guy applying this stuff is generally just someone who is painfully aware that he has no idea how to flirt and is terribly relieved to have someone break it down into a system. Since I have never had any idea how to flirt either, I'm kind of sympathetic. And this guy was trying so very hard.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

PUA is definitely on the skeevy side in its general principles. But yes, the people trying to apply it can fall along a whole spectrum from "clueless" to "outright evil." I'm glad you seem to have attracted the former, at least. :-P