Hi everyone, just wanted to tell you about my day, and perhaps seeking your advice. It was a long and hectic day, so please, bear with it !

I (21M) live in the suburbs of Paris (French here, let me apologize in advance if there are mistakes), about 30min in public transports. For some reasons, I really don't like going in Paris, but I had to go (climbing and meetings friends). That's it for the context.

I was in the climbing gym where i saw a very cute girl warming up. As I had to warm up as well, I came in the same room and asked her if it didn't bother her that I used my phone as a timer. She said that it was very nice of me to ask, and then I proceeded to ask her some things. But she didn't seem that much into the conversation (which I can totally understand, we are not here to talk haha), so I let her be and kept warming up. I saw her a few times after in the gym, I climbed a bit where she was, gave her a method but stopped bothering about her.

Next girl was when I got out of the gym. It was raining a freaking lot outside (a storm !). I saw a girl under a big tree smoking, so I came to shelter myself to give me the time to wear my coat and talked about how nice of the tree to shelter us. She laughed and said that she was having a pause because she worked at the climbing gym I just climbed in. And joked a bit with her and talked about climbing for some times. [EDIT : At first I kept my distance because of COVID, but as the conversation kept going she gradually closed the distance.] But at some point she said that she had to go back working. I told here :"wait, if you want to go climbing to [the city I live], do tell me !" She nodded, then I asked her about her Instagram. She said that she used WhatsApp, so I took her number.

I sent her the following message : "Hey it's Hr_Art ! 😊" 1 hour after meeting her. My sister told me that it was a choke, because it wasn't good enough to give her the will to reply. What do you guys think ? What could have I said ??

Last girl was when I took the train to go back home. Train was stopped even before starting because of the storm. I didn't hear the announcement so I asked the cute girl beside me to repeat it. Then I proceeded to talk to her. Seing that we had to wait a lot, she considered using another way to go back to her home. I told her that being 2 is funnier that being alone, so if she wanted I could accompany her. She was okay, and told me that her parents were coming to get her, and that she could bring me as well. We walked to the meeting point while talking, and under the rain, she suggested we go to a Café to wait. I told here that I was inviting her to thank her for helping me, and at first she denied a bit, but seing as I was sure of me, she gladly accepted. So it was a bit of a improvised date but it was really cool.

I didn't ask her number because of 2 things :

  • first her parents were coming to get me as well, I didn't want to make things awkward should she refused. I had to go back home as well lmao.
  • second, she wore a ring and was a few years older that me. Being older doesn't bother me, but the ring does. However I don't really know because a lot of girls wear rings for fun.

So I got was I wanted, I back safely in my house writing this. What are your thoughts? Does seeing a ring would have stopped you? What would you do, should you be in my shoes ?

Lastly, a girl friend of mine told me that it wasn't proper to approach girls in the streets because they feel unsafe. I don't think so if it's done properly and by respecting boundaries, but what do you think about this ?

Thank you for reading this, I hope that you'll find my experiences helpful ! I am a lurker here and hesitate a lot when I saw girls in the street. But when I am in a proper environment, such as a climbing gym, outside a climbing gym or a train blocked, I find it way easier to talk because we already share something.