The funniest attempts a man has made to ask you out!

DaisyChains

The funniest thing happened to me on Saturday. I was walking down Henry St around 5pm minding my business when suddenly I felt someone pulling at my arm and saying "Sorry, can I talk to you for a second".

When I turned around, there stood this jittery young man in his late 20's, well dressed but only 5 ft tall or so. He was obvioulsy out of puff, and seemed to have been running!

I wasn't sure if I should stop or not! Perhaps he would try to steal my bag I thought. But out of sheer curiosity, I stayed put.

He then started babbling that he wasn't trying to sell me anything and that he had been chatting to his friend down the street when he saw me walk by. He told me that he had to come and talk to me, otherwise he'd be kicking himself for not taking the chance! He then told me he thought I looked amazing and beautiful and then he babbled some more!

At this stage I began to move away from him, as I was begining to feel a bit freaked out! He apolgised for pouncing on me the way he had and then asked if I'd like to go for coffee or something...I thanked him but said I had to go!

It has to be one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me!

So Ladies, is there a new breed of Irish Men coming out of the woodwork or will I end up on some candid camera tv thing!!! LOL!

hobochris

Fair play to him.

Frogdog

Fair play to the lad for plucking up the courage and asking you out.

OP, a slightly off-topic question - why did you turn him down? Not attracted to him, already in a relationship or was it because you were shocked at the way he asked or the scenario?

On topic, I really hope more men do as this lad has done. And I hope girls don't feel intimidated by it.

NOGMaxpower

Fair play to him...

OP would a coffee been too much of an ask?

Aren't girls always complaining that men aren't original in their courtship?

Damned if you and damned if yo dont

Nervous Wreck

That guy, imo, is nothing short of a legend. Regardless of you turning him down, I'd say he felt like a million euro after the exchange for having had the courage to approach you and not letting himself into a situation where he felt he'd be kicking himself. I'd love to shake the guy's hand.

DaisyChains

Frogdog wrote: »

OP, a slightly off-topic question - why did you turn him down? Not attracted to him, already in a relationship or was it because you were shocked at the way he asked or the scenario?

.

I think I was in shock. He looked very normal and was nice looking but it's not something you'd expect on a Saturday in town from an Irish man! I was and am very flattered by it. I would love to see more men try it!

liah

Aw, if someone did that to me I'd think it was ridiculously cute, not strange (unless he came off like a sleaze). Obviously took a lot of courage to do it! Fair play to the lad, at least he tried.

hinault

DaisyChains wrote: »

The funniest thing happened to me on Saturday. I was walking down Henry St around 5pm minding my business when suddenly I felt someone pulling at my arm and saying "Sorry, can I talk to you for a second".

When I turned around, there stood this jittery young man in his late 20's, well dressed but only 5 ft tall or so. He was obvioulsy out of puff, and seemed to have been running!

I wasn't sure if I should stop or not! Perhaps he would try to steal my bag I thought. But out of sheer curiosity, I stayed put.

He then started babbling that he wasn't trying to sell me anything and that he had been chatting to his friend down the street when he saw me walk by. He told me that he had to come and talk to me, otherwise he'd be kicking himself for not taking the chance! He then told me he thought I looked amazing and beautiful and then he babbled some more!

At this stage I began to move away from him, as I was begining to feel a bit freaked out! He apolgised for pouncing on me the way he had and then asked if I'd like to go for coffee or something...I thanked him but said I had to go!

It has to be one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me!

So Ladies, is there a new breed of Irish Men coming out of the woodwork or will I end up on some candid camera tv thing!!! LOL!

fair dues to him.

Tony3004

If he had the guts to ask you on the street and wasent a complete freak surely he was worth a coffee? fair play . that shudent be such a weird thing. If it happened after a a dosage of alcohol. twud be the norm.

super_furry

Fair play to him and all, but I can't ever see that approach working with an Irish woman.

FutureGuy

Legend. That is all.

athlone M

I think I would have been flattered and freaked out at the same time I mean what kinda weirdo asks you out in the middle of the day. But then maybe thats what wrong with irish people they can't believe someone has the guts to walk over to you in the midle of the day without a drink in them and ask you out and thats why they say romance is dead??? And don't get me wrong I'm not sayin that I am any different.
Last christmas while standing in the queue in penneys while heavily pregnant with my second child and my 9 monthold son in his buggy this lad started to chat me up, and his chat up technique was to use the fact that I had a baby and he had a 3 year old, when he started to talk to me at first I thought he was just a doting father but when he proceeded to ask me if I'd like to go for a coffee sometime or maybe a drink I couldn't get out of ther quick enough, maybe the fact that I had a young child and was pregnant again gave him some idea that I might be easy and therefore thought I was fair game, but I would have thought the wedding ring on my finger would have been a warning sign that I wasn't or wouldn't be interested.

Nervous Wreck

athlone M wrote: »

what kinda weirdo asks you out in the middle of the day.

The kind of 'weirdo' that doesn't need to get plastered on a night out in town to build up the false sense of courage that most Irish men seem to think is a necessary prerequisite to courting. I know, Dundrum asylum is thata way, eh?

metaoblivia

Once I was walking through Harvard Square to get to my uni and this man who had been performing in the square and was now putting his equipment away saw me walk by and he chased after me and grabbed me by the hand and told me he would play any song for me right there. And a crowd of people started to gather, so I went ahead and gave him a song, and he got his guitar back out and played it for me, right on the square with a ton of people watching. And after he was done, he asked me to dinner. And I said yes.

DaisyChains

Well it certainly gives me hope that Romantic Ireland is not dead and gone and with O' Leary in the grave! I'll be better prepared if it ever happens again!

shellyboo

Wow, fair play to the dude! I'd be well impressed with that!

athlone M

I think you took me up wrong, what I'm saying is that a guy that asks you out in the middle of the day must be a weirdo in the eyes of some irish women. I don't see any harm in this guy asking out that lady, and I think its great that he had the confidence to.

DaisyChains

metaoblivia wrote: »

Once I was walking through Harvard Square to get to my uni and this man who had been performing in the square and was now putting his equipment away saw me walk by and he chased after me and grabbed me by the hand and told me he would play any song for me right there. And a crowd of people started to gather, so I went ahead and gave him a song, and he got his guitar back out and played it for me, right on the square with a ton of people watching. And after he was done, he asked me to dinner. And I said yes.

Wow that's amazing! How did it go after that?

RoadKillTs

It has to be one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me!

That's one of the strangest things that ever happened to you?
You need to travel!

DaisyChains

RoadKillTs wrote: »

That's one of the strangest things that ever happened to you?
You need to travel!

I'm very well travelled RoadKill. But when you put it in context, it's not exactly the norm for Irish men to do something like that.:-)

super_furry

I wonder how much of that is down to the reaction they'll get though. Kinda chicken or egg scenario. But until Irish people as a society can relate to or talk to strangers without being absolutely ****faced, it'll continue to be seen as strange.

RoadKillTs

But when you put it in context, it's not exactly the norm for Irish men to do something like that

It's not the norm because most men wouldn't be confident enough to do something like that,.

That why I think fair play to him for doing that.

I know its a sad thing to say but i'd have to be drunk before i'd ask someone out.

metaoblivia

DaisyChains wrote: »

Wow that's amazing! How did it go after that?

Oh we had a good time on our date! But I was only in Cambridge for school and was leaving in a few days and he was going back to Hawaii, so it was just a one time encounter. But definitely memorable!

seahorse

I had a near identical experience to the OP a couple of years back, only difference was it was on a different street. He said he'd "never forgive" himself if he didn't take the chance! Hey OP, maybe it's the same fella running around town trying to seduce women with his daring charm!

kingtut

DaisyChains wrote: »

I think I was in shock. He looked very normal and was nice looking but it's not something you'd expect on a Saturday in town from an Irish man! I was and am very flattered by it. I would love to see more men try it!

I find this somewhat contradictory. You would love to see more men try it however when one did you turned him down..

I'm not trying to be mean or have a go at you just making a point, my point being that this would put me off asking a girl out in said way (even though I have been tempted many times!).

Warfi

It is unusual for an Irish man to do that. All down to the social rules we have here in Ireland.
I think we should do what the Americans do and hand out business cards when we see someone we fancy . Eliminates the 'deer caught in headlights' scenario.

EDIT:You definitely should've gone for it!! He was hardly going to be a danger to you if he was inviting you to a public place for coffee : )

Nervous Wreck

Warfi wrote: »

It is unusual for an Irish man to do that. All down to the social rules we have here in Ireland.
I think we should do what the Americans do and hand out business cards when we see someone we fancy . Eliminates the 'deer caught in headlights' scenario.

EDIT:You definitely should've gone for it!! He was hardly going to be a danger to you if he was inviting you to a public place for coffee : )

Mine would read "Nervous Wreck - Not actually a nervous wreck...."

seahorse

kingtut wrote: »

I find this somewhat contradictory. You would love to see more men try it however when one did you turned him down..

I turned down the bloke who propositioned me in near identical circumstances. I did it good naturedly and told him I was flattered though. Just because somebody goes out on a limb doesn't mean they have automatic rights to your time.

Warfi

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Mine would read "Nervous Wreck - Not actually a nervous wreck...."

Mine would read 'Sex on Legs....just like Meals on Wheels except with sexy results' and less food

minidazzler

kingtut wrote: »

I find this somewhat contradictory. You would love to see more men try it however when one did you turned him down..

Not really contradictory, more men try it, then women become more used to it. So it starts to work more. (Theoretically.)

super_furry

Well would any women here ever try a similar approach to a guy they saw in the street?

shellyboo

super_furry wrote: »

Well would any women here ever try a similar approach to a guy they saw in the street?

I'd be a bit scared.

I was standing beside The Most Beautiful Man in the World (tm) in a bar on Friday night and while I did my very best to smile and bat my eyelids at him, I could not bring myself to chat him up. I have real admiration for guys who put themselves out there and chat girls up, it takes balls!

Warfi

super_furry wrote: »

Well would any women here ever try a similar approach to a guy they saw in the street?

I'd chat to anyone standing beside me, but no I wouldn't run after them to talk to them

krudler

A mate of mine has a knack for getting girls numbers in the most random scenarios, one of the best ones I ever saw him do was when he was in a cast after breaking his ankle, we were in a pub in the middle of the day having lunch and he had it propped up on a stool, a girl unknowingly pulled it away not realising his leg was on it, he let out a yelp of pain and she was mortified, he laughed it off and when she asked him what happened he replied with "ah its a long story, but if you want to hear it you could give me your number and I could tell you the whole thing over dinner some night" she gave him his number right there and they went out later that week, fortune favours the bold indeed.

And it does take balls to randomly chat up girls, I'm hopeless at it, can chat to anyone once I'm introduced or theres some kind of mutual conversation started but I just cant do the opening bit, although the one time I did man up and as a little experiment decided to chat up a girl, a simple smile and "Hi" at a bar resulted in me getting a kiss later that night

krudler

Its also strange how in other countries, America being a great example, that women will come up and talk to you without any bother whatsoever, I was in Orlando 2 years back and a girl walked right up to me in a bar and told me she thought i was cute and wanted to know if she could get my number, once she heard i had an Irish accent (well Irish sounding to her anyway) and I was only on holidays she became even more persistant, nothing came of it as i was seeing someone at the time but I gotta admit the feeling of someone else taking an interest made me smile myself silly on the way back from the bar, yet I've never, not once ever been approached like that by a girl at home

Ferris_Bueller

In the past I have gone up to random girls and asked for their numbers or to go out etc, similar enough to what the OP is about, once or twice the girl has said yes, and I have been delighted with myself, feels great when you build up the courage to actually do it and your heart is racing and then they say yes. But however, most of the times you just get a flat out "No", with no smile or nothing, once I did not even get an answer, she just turned and walked away. As a result I wont do it anymore because I find it generally seems to scare girls or they will think your a "weirdo". Or else im just an ugly b*stard.

Either way though, I thin it should be encouraged and even if this person isnt the most attractive, everyone should at least have the decency to be polite and say no in a nice way. Otherwise it will just happen less and less.

Nervous Wreck

krudler wrote: »

Its also strange how in other countries, America being a great example, that women will come up and talk to you without any bother whatsoever, I was in Orlando 2 years back and a girl walked right up to me in a bar and told me she thought i was cute and wanted to know if she could get my number, once she heard i had an Irish accent (well Irish sounding to her anyway) and I was only on holidays she became even more persistant, nothing came of it as i was seeing someone at the time but I gotta admit the feeling of someone else taking an interest made me smile myself silly on the way back from the bar, yet I've never, not once ever been approached like that by a girl at home

I've been approached a couple of times but mostly the girls chicken out. Tbh, I've never given it much thought but thinking about it now, I guess (Irish) girls really do feel a lot of pressure when it comes to this. My most memorable one (purely cos it was so genuine) was a couple of years ago standing at a bar, waiting for a drink and these two girls chatting away just a few feet away. I couldn't hear their conversation but I guess they decided to leave. So one of them walked off and the other stayed for a second. She just looked at me and said "You're really cute!" with a big smile. It was really nice! I said a cheerful "Thanks!" but before it could go any further, she said "Cya!" and left. Hahaha.

Mackleton

Well fair play to him for trying.

Reminds you of medieval Venice or something where a man would be serenading your beauty underneath your balcony, a man openly declaring that he thinks you're beautiful.

I say, more of this please and none of that stupid attitude that a lot of Irish men seem to have - I think you're beautiful but I'm not going to say so as that would only swell your head/make a rejection more painful etc.

If it was me I would:

1. Be seriously flattered
2. Respect him taking the leap
3. Absolutely accept if I fancied him and he wasn't creepy/sleazy
4. Be as kind as I could if refusing

We must encourage more of this in our menfolk!

BQQ

I can't believe people are seriously suggesting she should've said yes to some randomer who literally chased her down the street. :eek:

You can see from this thread that this approach will nearly always fail because he looks like a psycho. Any woman with a sense of self-preservation will get away from him asap.

Nervous Wreck

BQQ wrote: »

I can't believe people are seriously suggesting she should've said yes to some randomer who literally chased her down the street. :eek:

You can see from this thread that this approach will nearly always fail because he looks like a psycho. Any woman with a sense of self-preservation will get away from him asap.

Where can you see that in this thread?

Any key?

BOO, I don't think every person who asks you out in a public place who you don't know is a psycho

I've been stopped and asked out in a few odd places once in work by a customer and another time at the gym. Honestly they seemed like nice guys who just figured foook it I'll seize the day and ask her out.

I'm sure your man put a big smile on Daisychains face and sure if your not in it you can't win it:D

beks101

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

I guess (Irish) girls really do feel a lot of pressure when it comes to this.

Not so much pressure, as just the fact that a lot of us (not all, obviously) won't even see it as an option.
I was having this discussion with a few of my female mates a while ago, all very confident and attractive girls, and not one of us said we'd make the first approach with a guy, even in your standard pub or club situation. Isn't that a bit sad??

I spent a year in the States a while back and in that year I got hit on in the most random of places - in the street, once in a supermarket and once when I was out jogging!! And there was no shame or mortification involved either like there would be here, it was like being asked out for a business lunch...


Gah, why do we all hate each other??

Silverfish

I was once asked out by a guy who chased me in his car.
He was driving behind me. Then in the lane beside me. Then he pulled in front of me. Right through the Phoenix Park. When the lights went red he hopped out and ran back and asked me out.

I was too busy locking my doors and making sure I had my phone to get a proper reply out, but I think it was 'errr blerrr no errrr'

It's great and all someone approaching you on the street, and indeed if it was done more often it would be more acceptable. And providing he's sober, its a lot nicer than meeting someone in a nightclub.

However, do not chase women in your car. Its seriously not cool.

The Big Red Button

It's kind of odd that a lot of the women who would find this approach weird and creepy and wouldn't even go for coffee with the fella in the middle of the day, are the same women who will kiss some randomer who walks up to them on the dancefloor of a nightclub without even knowing his name or anything.

I'm not saying there's a thing wrong with that - I've done it plenty of times myself. But I'd be totally flattered if a guy had the courage to go out of his way to chat me up like that on a crowded street in the middle of the day. And I don't really see anything "funny" about it to be honest!

krudler

BQQ wrote: »

I can't believe people are seriously suggesting she should've said yes to some randomer who literally chased her down the street. :eek:

You can see from this thread that this approach will nearly always fail because he looks like a psycho. Any woman with a sense of self-preservation will get away from him asap.

As opposed to some randomer who gets pissed and does the exact same thing? why is it Irish people have this mentality that "hammered drunk=acceptable chatup scenario, sober and during daytime= must be a psycho"

Silverfish

krudler wrote: »

why is it Irish people have this mentality that "hammered drunk=acceptable chatup scenario, sober and during daytime= must be a psycho"

As far as I can make out from this thread, there's a good few people saying the opposite?
That's quite the generalisation there.

Nervous Wreck

krudler wrote: »

As opposed to some randomer who gets pissed and does the exact same thing? why is it Irish people have this mentality that "hammered drunk=acceptable chatup scenario, sober and during daytime= must be a psycho"

I think rather than the drunk thing, it's the situational thing. Whereas other cultures believe that 'courtship' is a natural thing that can/should be approached when attraction is felt, a lot of Irish people seem to be of the belief that there is a 'time & place'. The time being the weekend and the place being a pub. They/we get so hung up on this notion that "chatups are for the pub", that any deviation from what we've made into our social norm feels uncomfortable and 'weird' and, as such, anyone willing to go outside these narrow windows we've created to let romance into our lives is 'weird' or 'desperate'. The drunk thing is a bi-product of the time/place phenomena as, chances are, if you're in a pub environment on a friday/saturday night, you're gonna be having a couple of drinks. In turn, this bi-product becomes a norm in and of itself. Some women, then, aren't just scared of being approached by someone who isn't drunk; they're uncomfortable with being approached while they themselves are sober.

opinion guy

krudler wrote: »

Its also strange how in other countries, America being a great example, that women will come up and talk to you without any bother whatsoever, I was in Orlando 2 years back and a girl walked right up to me in a bar and told me she thought i was cute and wanted to know if she could get my number, once she heard i had an Irish accent (well Irish sounding to her anyway) and I was only on holidays she became even more persistant, nothing came of it as i was seeing someone at the time but I gotta admit the feeling of someone else taking an interest made me smile myself silly on the way back from the bar, yet I've never, not once ever been approached like that by a girl at home

beks101 wrote: »

Not so much pressure, as just the fact that a lot of us (not all, obviously) won't even see it as an option.
I was having this discussion with a few of my female mates a while ago, all very confident and attractive girls, and not one of us said we'd make the first approach with a guy, even in your standard pub or club situation. Isn't that a bit sad??

I spent a year in the States a while back and in that year I got hit on in the most random of places - in the street, once in a supermarket and once when I was out jogging!! And there was no shame or mortification involved either like there would be here, it was like being asked out for a business lunch...


Gah, why do we all hate each other??

Yeah the states is like that. To be honest I think its more that the Americans are such fervent believers in freedom of expression whereas as we Irish are almost genetically coded to worry about what the neighbours think.


But to be honest I'm a little taken a back at people's reaction to the OP's story. For several reasons. Now don't get me wrong - I've asked for people's numbers after meeting them on a train or a plane and gotten a couple of dates out of it and some i'd still have the odd bit of contact with via internet or whatever. But I wouldn't run after someone on the street to the point I'm out of breath, then pull them by the arm and ask them out. That's kinda crazy. Asking out someone out who you have social reason to interact with is one thing, approaching someone who is going about their business is another. Much like being asked to give to charity by some xfactor-wanna-be-charity-mugger is annoying, being propositioned by randomers is also annoying (and actually it has happened to me in the day sober by a random woman and its just WEIRD and annoying).

The second thing is this guy pulled her by the hand. WTF? Thats really crossing a line. I'm a decent sized passably fit man and I would be both annoyed and on-guard if someone did that to me. I'd also not go on a date with someone who would cross a boundary like that without even knowing the first thing about me. Big warning sign if you ask me.

BQQ

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Where can you see that in this thread?

DaisyChains wrote: »

At this stage I began to move away from him, as I was begining to feel a bit freaked out! ...I thanked him but said I had to go!

athlone M wrote: »

when he proceeded to ask me if I'd like to go for a coffee sometime or maybe a drink I couldn't get out of ther quick enough

seahorse wrote: »

I turned down the bloke who propositioned me in near identical circumstances.

Ferris_Bueller wrote: »

In the past I have gone up to random girls and asked for their numbers or to go out etc, similar enough to what the OP is about, once or twice the girl has said yes, and I have been delighted with myself, feels great when you build up the courage to actually do it and your heart is racing and then they say yes. But however, most of the times you just get a flat out "No", with no smile or nothing, once I did not even get an answer, she just turned and walked away.

Is that enough?

Nervous Wreck

BQQ wrote: »

Is that enough?

Compared to the amount of people who've encouraged the opposite reaction, no; that's not enough.

Nervous Wreck

opinion guy wrote: »

Asking out someone out who you have social reason to interact with is one thing, approaching someone who is going about their business is another.

Approaching someone who is going about their business is what people do in pubs/clubs every night of the week; we've just been conditioned to accept it in this situation and, as of yet, not so much in a sober, daytime scenario.

opinion guy wrote: »

The second thing is this guy pulled her by the hand. WTF? Thats really crossing a line.

I agree here. Unwarranted physical contact ain't on. I wouldn't do that on the street or in a club.