Hi all:

I am pleased to report that after a couple weeks of slow going, I
finally dared to push a little further and achieved my first number
close. Here's the scene:

College football game. I arrive with my brother, my cousin and my uncle
to find everyone tailgating in the parking lot. Some of these superfans
are pretty insane, they have RV's totally decked out with plasma TVs
and satellite dishes (for the pregame show) and full barbecue gear. The
beer and booze are flowing freely. My uncle recognizes one of the
SUV's, which has a big tent-like setup with BBQ grill and cooler set up
in the back, but the owner (my uncle's friend) is not around so we sit
down on his beach chairs and wait for him to get back. He comes back,
introductions are made, beers are passed around (I decline for the time
being, wanting to keep my game tight in case any HB's appear).

Lo and behold, along come two more guys that my uncle knows from
tailgating in the past. With the two guys is this very cute Latin girl
(7.25) - let's call her HB Spicy. Everyone is drinking beer and they
are carrying another six-pack with them. Everyone is introduced and now
I have a target so I am ready to spit some game, although my game is
still pretty weak at this point!

I first talk to the two guys to demonstrate social proof, although I
already have some because I was part of the larger group before they
arrived. We just joke around a little bit, I ask them how they know my
uncle, they say they go to school in Texas and used to tailgate with
him a lot, I tell them I'm from NY and just visiting for Thanksgiving.
Then the two guys notice there is a beer bong on the table near the BBQ
grill and they go crazy. They walk away and leave Spicy standing by
herself while they pick up the beer bong and start getting ready to do
beer bong hits. (easiest isolation ever) She is just standing there
drinking a can of light beer so I approach her and open with:

Me: Aren't you afraid your boyfriend is going to choke to death on
Miller Lite?
Spicy: No. He's not by boyfriend.

Cool, I take this as a positive signal (sort of the opposite of "I have
a boyfriend" which seems to be the most common line HB's use to blow
you out).

Me: Ah, well I am totally amazed by what is going on here, it's totally
alien to me everyone being so crazy into football, I feel like I'm
Dorothy and I just landed in Munchkinland or something. And what's the
deal with the beer bong? I've never seen anyone do anything like this,
I went to school at **prestigious private university** and there was no
football team so we would just entertain ourselves by sitting around in
groups of 3 or 4 and smoking pot while reading our bad poetry.

I said this with a sly grin on my face and she bust out laughing! My
plan: I figure this girl is used to getting hit on by Southern football
fan/frat boy types every day so I am trying to DHV by painting myself
as the mysterious and intellectual but also cocky/funny guy from New
York. The black leather jacket and black silk shirt I am wearing help
me to establish this image. One of the guys she was with does a beer
bong hit and I make a face like I am terrified of what I am witnessing,
she sees the look on my face and starts laughing and touching my arm,
which I take as an IOI. She says to the other guys "OMG you should see
the look on his face, that was priceless."

Now I laugh and fluff her for about 5 minutes and start establishing
rapport while her not-boyfriend and the other guy are doing beer bong
hits and looking like total idiots. She keeps touching my arm lightly,
so I start doing some light kino back. She asks me if I am still in
school and I laugh and go "How old do you think I am?" She guesses 22
and I look at her like "Are you nuts?" Then she guesses 24 and I do a
takeaway, but in an obviously playful way. Then I tell her that I am
actually 28 and that I've been out of school for a while and work in
New York. She tells me that she really wants to come visit New York and
that she might be up there for New Year's, I tell her she should check
it out because New York is awesome and there's no cooler city in the
world. We continue fluffing but in a playful way and I am sure to keep
throwing in some jokes and funny comments so it doesn't turn into a
standard Q&A/getting to know you type conversation. One interesting
exchange occurred where she told me that her sister had just gotten
pregnant: she never said anything about her sister being married or
having other kids so I wasn't sure how to respond. So I just played it
straight and said "Your sister is pregnant? Cool" then smiled and said
"To be honest, I have no idea if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
And she seemed to realize she'd put me in a tough spot so she laughed
and said that it was a good thing, then I grinned and said something
like "then you're gonna be an auntie, that's awesome, congratulations"
(whew)

At this point the two guys she was with ran out of beer and decided to
go across the street to Walgreens to buy more. I thought that inviting
myself to go along with them would look weird, and so I played it cool
and said I'd see her when she got back. Then she went to Walgreens with
them and I just chilled with the other guys while waiting for them to
return. While they were away everyone started packing up their gear and
locking their cars because the game was going to start in another half
hour or so. I was getting nervous thinking we might have to leave and
go inside the stadium or that they might not come back to meet us
before going inside. Fortunately they got back just in time and busted
out the beer bong again, so I continued gaming her.

This is where it gets really interesting: somehow my brother and my
uncle came up with the idea of me doing a beer bong. I don't really
like drinking and I have never done any binge-drinking type activities
in my life, but the problem was that everyone seemed to think it would
be fun if I did my first beer bong with them in the parking lot. So
they all were egging me on to do it, and I kept refusing, like "no way,
you must be kidding." Then they all started chanting my name, and I
just looked at Spicy like "can you believe this is happening to me?" I
didn't want to look like a total pussy in front of her so I took off my
leather jacket and got down on one knee while they poured a bottle of
beer into the funnel and I held the tube closed with my thumb. One of
her friends told me "just keep your throat open, don't try to swallow"
so I did precisely that and all the beer flowed down my throat except
the pressure from the funnel was so high that some spurted out of my
nose!

Everyone was laughing and I actually felt good because I hadn't totally
screwed it up and dribbled beer on my shirt or done something really
embarrassing in front of the HB like spit the beer out or throw up.
This is where I think I essentially sealed the deal because after
having social proof and displaying higher value, I then bolstered the
social proof by doing a beer bong, which caused everyone to celebrate
and cheer my name. Even though it disgusted me, it seemed like the
right move. So then I wiped off my face with a towel one of the guys
gave me and laughed, and went back to Spicy and said "It's in my nose -
I feel like I just drowned in a swimming pool full of beer." She
laughed and kinoed me a little more. Then everyone was going back
inside the stadium, so I said goodbye to my uncle's friends, then said
goodbye to her two guy friends, then turned to her and smoothly said
"Hey, why don't you give me your number, we'll hang out when you get to
NY!" while simultaneously pulling my cell phone out of my pocket. She
gave the number and I dialed it and called right in front of her. Her
cell phone rang and my number came up so I knew she had it. Then I said
"Do you have a pen?" She goes "Why?" and I go "well I wanted to give
you my email, here, why don't you just take my business card, it has my
email on it" and I hand her my b-card. Then I say "it was great meeting
you, let's talk soon" and go into the stadium. Cha-ching.

This was my first number close since beginning to learn the game so it
really left me pumped up and I felt great for the rest of the evening.
I'm sure I didn't do everything perfectly so any comments you all may
have, I greatly welcome them. Thanks for your help.

Bosola