Q: Could you give me your perspective on approaching the opposite sex?
A: I could easily take the next couple hundred words to talk about how girls want to be pursued, the importance of chivalry, how guys should open doors for girls, or how they should be the ones to ask a girl out on a date – but I won’t. I hope all you “shy” guys understand your part when it comes to dating. If not, talk to Ryan Low, the RD of Hart – he’ll set you straight.
Instead, I’m going to write about establishing friendships with the opposite sex. Some of you don’t have a problem with this, so if you are good in the friends-of-the-opposite-sex department feel free to use this section as scratch paper for figuring out the Pythagorean theorem.
For shy guys or girls who find it easy to converse with members of the same sex but not the opposite sex, please keep reading and you might want to grab a writing utensil to take notes.
Talking to members of the opposite sex is like talking to members of the same sex – it’s actually exactly the same. Now you may be intimidated or scared because the person you are talking to is, well . . . ridiculously good-looking.
But swallow that fear, because it can be as easy as standing in line at the café and saying, “Wow I hope this chicken wrap is actually edible.” Or “Do you ever get the creeps walking by the Jesus wall?” “How’d you like chapel this morning?” “How many chapel make-ups will you be doing this semester?” Even if you’re randomly walking by someone, you can say, “Dude, rad shoes, where’d you get them?”
Those are just some examples, but there are tons of ways to start conversations with people. It doesn’t have to be fancy or captivating, it can just be small talk. Try not to be nervous, be confident in yourself, know you are a unique individual and as long as you don’t have horns growing out of your head, you are worth getting to know.
Whether you are male or female, meeting someone of the opposite sex doesn’t have to consist of you being a huge flirt. Girls, you don’t have to throw yourself at a guy or call him up. Guys, you don’t have to have it all together and be a super macho dude. Just start a conversation. Don’t make friends with the intention of hoping to date them or marry them – just make friends to be friends.
