So I went ten-pin bowling today with 3 friends, and there was a nice girl behind the desk. We had some brief but friendly dialogue with her when we first went in, a few jokes, nothing major and went on with our bowling.

Anyways, halfway through our game we decided we wanted another afterwards, so I went up to ask and pay for it. The dialogue was as follows:

Locket: Hey there, can we get another game on [lane] 6 please?
Girl: Yea thats fine, no problem
Locket: Are we still alright with the military discount? (one of my buddies is military)
Girl: Yea sure, I'll put that through for you
*hand her credit card*

**AWKWARD SILENCE WHILE PIN ETC. IS ENTERED**

Locket: Thanks.. *leaves*

Very AFC...

Alright, so what are some good ways for finding inspiration to get a conversation going in situations like that? Canned material seemed really forced when there isn't a real conversation going on anyway - I've been focusing so much on AA that I don't know what to do when I'm interacting with someone by default and there is that different vibe to it.

What would you guys have said / done?

i think in these types of situations we as guys will always think too much if we dont just say the first thing that comes to mind, put the 3-second rule into action next time, if you want the #, dive in and ask before you have a chance to second guess yourself(keep it smooth, of course)

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I think the crucial part of maintaining a decent level of conversation is being able to respond to the things she says and gear the conversation into the way you want it. Having canned routines and memorized lines don't work! They come off very incongruent. Simply learn the skill to respond quickly and move the conversation.

Facebook "Dele Olora"

Learning that skill doesn't sound like something that can be done 'simply'!
Is there not anything you would typically use to 'fill the gaps' in case of an awkward silence?

sounds to me like you need to get yourself a lot more comfortable around women; it might be an idea to use a few canned lines and routines for now until you have the confidence to just go with it and make up some of your own.

Easy man just start talking about her job.
Throw in some stuff about relation ships n shit.
IE
"Do many couples come bowling?"
"Do you come here with your partner?"
Then you find out if she is single.
If she is single be like.
"O well them maybe you can teach me how to bowl cause my average is shit house and I wanna impress my mate cause bla bla bla bla."

Always eaiser to think of it like this later on. But hay gotta learn some how.
Also you know where she works so you don;t have to ever get a number. Just meet her at work. Sweet.

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Was born to rock and built to last. You'll never see my feet cause they move so fast