So, Friday night, my sarging buddies, Parallaxx, Kenny, and I went down to Manhattan to get to work. We sat down in a tea shop before going out and made sure that we had a game plan, that we discussed our wining strategies, and basically really had our heads about us. This, I think, is a great idea for anyone sarging. We had gone out last week, no discussion, and we had very mixed results; however, yesterday, we were consistent, and driven because we knew what we expected of each other.
We also chugged some Redbull
Out first stop was a place called 230 Fifth. Amazing place, btw! Really posh setup, rooftop bar, incredible view of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, and NO COVER
:D:D. We took an elevator to the 20th floor and stepped into a very chill lounge, but not much going on so we took the stairs up to the rooftop bar which was already packed at 10 PM. We admired the view and then took a loop around the place to get a sense of the locale. I took notice of the red robes that they have hung up on racks all around the place (for the cold weather). I decided that it was the perfect situational opener. We get a drink from the bar and position ourselves near a few sets.
I tried to get my buddies to open a two set near the robes, but we were all a little reserved, that being the beginning of the night. Maybe it was the Redbull, but I took matters into my hands and strolled over to the two set and said, “So, what’s up with these red robes?” We chatted for a moment about the robes, then I transitioned by asking where the taller girl’s accent was from. This turned into a conversation about Algeria as my two wings joined me, Parallaxx working the Algerian with me, and Kenny taking the British girl.
The problem was, I don’t know much about Algeria, and her accent was a challenge to communicate with, so I had a hard time controlling the conversation. As such I moved towards a dull socio-political discussion. I recognized that things were dying so I grabbed a robe and put it on to throw a little humor into the situation. It worked, and I got opened by a mixed group behind me.
I took off the robe and engaged the Brazilians behind me—two guys, one girl. I didn’t know what sort of success I’d have, but I went with it and worked on my conversational skills. I made sure that I engaged the men first, and talked to them for about a full five minutes before I showed any attention to the Brazilian girl. But when I did start talking almost exclusively to the girl, the guys did not seem threatened (as they had at first). After about fifteen minutes of chatter I heard someone to my left commenting about the robes, so I turned and pulled them into the convo.
I noticed that things were simmering down with Kenny and the original two-set, so I tried to rejoin, but we all parted ways.
It was a good conversational warm up, I think. We then went to the downstairs lounge and sat at a table with a two-set. Kenny leaned over and opened them with a simple, “Hey, how’s it going?” These two women were German, here for the weekend on a business trip. So, again, the accent was challenging, but we plowed along. I tried talking about some German friends I have, the strange German phrases I know (from a movie I was in), and New York. We spent too much time in the set. I probably could have pulled the girl I was talking to the dance floor, but my nerves got the better of me. After a while they said they were tired and left.
Okay, so we just had two, full on two-sets, with perfect opportunities for #-closes, but we never pulled the trigger. We spent too much time building rapport, staying in the interview mode, and/or chatting about nooooothing. Grrr.
We went back upstairs and took another loop through the place. We’re leaning on a railing when Kenny opens up a girl who’s part of a three-set. I look behind him at the girl in the middle and she catches my stare. I do this a second time and decide to engage. I walk over and started talking to her (can’t remember what I opened with). I tried to take more chances this time, break rapport, and make the conversation more interesting. The girls were in NYC for the weekend, on vacation from L.A. So I knew this was an excellent opportunity. She seemed to be enjoying the convo, and soon said, “Well, we’re going downstairs to the dancefloor,” in a way that suggested we join. Yes, I know, I should have been the one to suggest this first. And, yes, I know, I should not have then so easily acquiesced and followed behind (I should have at least LED the entourage), but I didn’t. Then a big ol’ AMOG came in, saying, “Hey! Didn’t we talk earlier!? How’s it going!?” Fuck. I wanted to AMOG back, but my inner AFC got the better of me. And this guy was good. Really good. He had all three girls’ attention straightaway, and his energy was so high, and he was really tall and good looking (translation: I freaked out in reverence of his awesomeness; FAIL). I waited for my wings to catch up and we decided it was time to leave. I placed my hand on the girl’s shoulder and said good bye.
We went to a McDonalds in Union Square and regrouped, discussed what worked and what didn’t. We knew that we were spending too much time in these sets. And we weren’t escalating. We weren’t isolating. And our conversations were mostly silly small talk. There were, indeed, moments when we engaged in a decent banter, but we couldn’t sustain it. There were at least three sets of girls who were only in the City for three more days, who had some obvious initial attraction to us, and we failed. All the same, we felt like we learned a lot for the interactions.
We then wandered around a bit, went to St. Mark’s, the Beauty Bar, and Penny Farthing, but a combination of almost no sets, and our energy being sapped by the most intense sarging any of us had done in a while, made those endeavors rather fruitless.
After this night, the lessons learned: my openers are fine, but what follows does not create any tension. I need to work on the whole breaking rapport thing, creating tension, and pulling the trigger.
But, for only the second night of serious sarging, and not hiding behind a British accent and alcohol, I’d say it was fairly successful.
As always, if I’ve been unclear, or you’d like more details on a specific situation, or have any questions or comments at all, feel free to ask/comment.
CHAT
