Yesterday evening I was on the bus and saw this cute girl. Didn't have the balls to approach. At my stop, it turned out she had to get off at the same stop as me and she walked in the same direction. She walked past me and I still didn't have the balls to say anything.

About 15 minutes later, I'm still walking behind her, now maybe 30 meters behind (slow walker), imagining all the potential good stuff I'll be missing out on because I didn't open her.

So, in the following situation:

  • It was dark
  • I hadn't said a word to her in 30 minutes
  • Having to run up to her from behind
  • We were walking in the direction, she was probably heading home

I figured I'd just take the tiny chance I had, and started running to catch up with her and tell her how I feel.

Me: "H-h-Hey. It t-took me 30 minutes to bring up the balls to say this, but I think you look r-r-really c-cute."

She: (doesn't make eye contact) "Thanks" runs to other side of road, proceeds to walk quicker

Although I feel bad for probably making her feel threatened (especially given the setting..), I still feel good because at least I fucking took a chance. This is about my seventh cold day/evening approach, and definitely the worst one so far. But I'm still here. If I had taken action earlier instead of waiting half an hour, the approach would probably be received much better. That is why my next approach will be easier, no matter what.

For those stuck reading dating advice for more time than they'd care to admit, but not taking any chances (I've been you for a year and a half), I hope this story will help you realize that, no matter how much of a fool/rapist you will look like, there will still be more than 3 billion women to try again on. Approach, approach, approach. Plenty of stuff to learn by doing. At this point I'm a walking encyclopedia on dating and pick-up, yet still did the approach described above. Start making your own mistakes already!

Two things that helped me work up to those first approaches:

  • Having an approach buddy. Search seddit if you can find sedditors who live in your city/area, or ask someone you know who would probably like to meet more women. Telling someone else that you're going to approach the next cute girl you see works wonders when getting started.
  • Taking baby steps. For me this meant greeting the janitor at school and asking them about their holiday schedule. Saying "hi" to the people you walk across on the street. Asking the pretty girl instead of the guy for directions. Replacing Google with asking locals questions on holiday.

TL;DR: Probably looked like a serial killer approaching, still made good progress.