Monday, November 21, 2011

The Seamless Icebreaker Theory

by Dan Greco

This Saturday, I met some friends from college in New York City for a little reunion of binge drinking, bar hopping, and late night activity.  Luckily I had a friend’s apartment to stay at so I didn’t have to drunkenly take the train home.  In taking the afternoon train home the next day, I had an idea for a witty ice breaker inspired by Narcolepsy, a track from the self-titled album by Third Eye Blind (my favorite band). 
                There was a cute girl in front of me sitting by herself.  I said “I’m sorry to bother you, but you wouldn’t happen to be getting off at Croton Harmon would you?” “No, I’m not. Why do you ask?” she replied.  “Well, I didn’t take my medication last night because I knew I would be doing a lot of drinking.  I was wondering if you could wake me at Croton Harmon should I fall asleep…I have narcolepsy.”  This inspired a moderate amount of sympathy and curiosity within her.  She intelligently suggested letting the conductor know just in case but I realized Croton Harmon was the last stop so they would’ve made me get off.  She asked me some questions but I played it off like I don’t like to blab about it.  Then we made some small talk and I realized she had a boyfriend.  No need to force anything after that information is revealed. 
                I know what you’re thinking (especially if you know me personally) “Dude…you’re an idiot.” But before you let that thought permanently resonate, consider the possibilities.  Since you are pretending to have narcolepsy (sounds messed up now that I think about it), you have the option to talk and immediately stop talking if you should so choose.  Let’s say you’re sitting next to her and she’s not quite into you or she’s really weird/has an annoying laugh/has a boyfriend…you could just pretend to fall asleep whenever you want.  On the flipside, if all goes well you may get the opportunity to see her again.  After all, narcolepsy is the uncontrollable desire to sleep; unless you are medicated.
But before blurting out you have a sleep disorder on a train to a girl you want to pork, consider a few factors.  The train shouldn’t be too crowded because someone could be a doctor and embarrass you.  You need to be traveling alone and so does she…unless you’re confident in your ability to be equally interested in her friend(s).  You may also want to skim the Wikipedia page on narcolepsy in case she happened to do a research project on the subject in grade school. Then finally, be yourself and be normal.  She needs to get over the fact that you have this condition enough to want to get to know you through an engaging conversation.  Should dating come of this icebreaker, she should be cool enough to drop it because though it is a lie; the lie was intended for finding happiness.
This idea leaves me wondering.  Is there really a perfect icebreaker for every specific scenario, setting, and person?  What opportunities have a missed and which will lead to something great? Maybe a real life How I Met Your Mother story. 

That concludes my first blog post ever.

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