I recently made a post asking for advice on meeting men in college, and u/ellewoodsy linked me to u/Whisper 's post about the art of the bad excuse. I thought the post was brilliant, and I made it my goal to try it out within the next month! I've been talking to strangers (men and women) left and right to basically take away the approach anxiety I had when it came to talking to strangers, particularly attractive men. It worked!

There was a guy next to me in the elevator and I started a conversation about the weather. I know, real clever stuff - but I'd rather that than an awkward silence for 8 floors! But that was all it took for him to turn to me with a bright look on his face and start an actual convo. I didn't really check him out when I started talking to him, but once we stopped outside of the building to talk a bit more, I was taken aback by how attractive he actually was. We only talked for a few minutes since I had to be somewhere else on campus, but I was shocked at the way he looked at me. I couldn't believe he was giving me flirty eyes, since he was way cuter than most guys I've dated! He initiated a physical (but innocent!) IOI and I told him that I'll see him around. I should've hinted at staying in contact, but baby steps, lol! I could definitely feel some tension in the air, in a good way.

Before, I could barely make eye contact with men even when they talked to me first. Then I would question why I couldn't get anyone interested in me even though I thought I was reasonably attractive. I thought maybe I actually have a low SMV; maybe I smelled funny; maybe there was just a negative energy about me. After today, it was clear that it really is all about the way you carry yourself and how you put yourself out there. The lame excuse to talk to him probably let him know I was interested without looking too forward, which was the one thing I struggled to show to the men around me in the past. I'm happy that I'm finally putting these RPW theories to the test and seeing them come true right before my eyes!

On a side note, I also wanted to mention how BP media continually laments things like "mindless" small talk about the weather and the minutia of daily life. That's what made me hesitant till now to try the bad excuse - I didn't want to seem boring. Thank God I got over that! Sure, it's a bit shallow to talk about the weather but it puts your foot in the door so that you could have the opportunity to meet someone new and eventually talk about the things that do matter.

Edit: link to the bad excuse post if anyone else wants it!