I work at a restaurant, and decided to go out tonight after getting off of work. In the past I would go home, pump myself up, and then go out. Tonight, however, I just went straight from the restaurant without any prep or pump up. I went out to one neighborhood, started walking down the main drag and run into a bunch of musicians. I was in a good mood and had my saxophone with me, so I asked them if I could join them for a little jam session...I thought it would get me in state. Anyway, we have some fun, some girls say hi to us, and I try to get them to stay and watch us, but all the other musicians (all dudes) were just into the music. No matter, I decided to leave after a few songs. I head to a bar with live music. I go get a drink, which I know is not a good first move, and then chode at the bar for a while. I get approach anxiety, because everyone in the bar seems to be paired up with a guy. It felt like couples night. I leave and go to a dance club. I see two girls on the dance floor, I touch one on the shoulder and say, "What's up!". She looks a little interested, but her friend turns her away and they ignore me. I realize they were part of a wedding party at the club. I walk around a bit, and again feel like it's couples night at the dance club. I go home, frustrated. Anyway, if anything, I've at least gotten much less nervous about going out solo. I have one question: What should I do/say to myself to get over feeling that everyone in the bar/club is "taken"? I know that I should be engaging groups of people no matter who's in the group or what the guy-girl ratio is, but observing and thinking about this made me choke big time tonight. It could have been the lack of prep, but I don't think that's entirely to blame....