I have just never quite been able to grasp the skill of the "cold approach," so to speak. Unfortunately, with little to no dating prospects these days and online dating basically being a complete waste of my time, I am beginning to think I'll have to learn to master it or else learn to be content with being alone until the day I die. Even more unfortunately, it just seems completely foreign to me.
I think part of my problem is that it is sort of just not me, so to speak. In other words, I'm not the type of guy to just go around asking out tons of random women hoping at least some will actually say yes. To be perfectly honest, I kind of don't WANT to do that. I tend to prefer to get to know a gal first to decide if she seems like somebody I'd want to date. Heck, even when I have a crush on a girl, my very first desire isn't to ask her out, it's to start to become friendly with her so I can determine if I even want to ask her out. But, I am beginning to think maybe I need to learn this cold approach.
What do I mean exactly? I mean seeing some random girl (or guy, if that is your thing), deciding you might want to get to know them and/or ask them out, and thereby just going up to them and striking up a conversation without the slightest icebreaker. I mean, it would be different if, for example, I saw her reading a book I loved. That would give me a ready made icebreaker. Or, if I saw her wearing a shirt for a movie I loved. Again, there's your icebreaker right there.
What if it is just some random girl I always see at the gym? Or some random girl on my train? Or some girl I see while food shopping or at the mall? The idea of going up to a complete stranger with no pre-determined idea of anything to say is just completely foreign to me... and I'm starting to think maybe I am missing out on potential opportunities because I don't know how to do this.