A man musters up the courage to walk over to an attractive female perched on a barstool, sliding up onto a neighboring stool. Trying to appear confident, his nervousness is apparent by his unsettled posture as his first words break the silence: "Baby, are you tired from running through my dreams all night?"
The attractive female rolls her eyes and promptly walks away.
Since the beginning of time, men have used pick-up lines on women as a means of striking up a conversation. Some of the first cave paintings probably show a man asking a woman to kiss his rock for good luck, followed by hunting down a piece of meat for her.
"Giant polar bear." "What?" "It broke the ice."
It is no surprise that the cheesiest and least subtle pick-up lines don't often guarantee success.
Approaching a girl by telling her it must have hurt when she fell from heaven isn't impressive, but it does allow for some leeway into the conversation. And if the line is too ridiculous, it may provoke a "huh?" response or an angry look, rather than a small chuckle.
Bridgette Kaptein, a freshman business major and her friend were once approached with the pick-up line, "People say we look like twins." In actuality, she thinks she looks nothing like her friends.
Men have frequently used other lines and tactics to win the attention of her companions. One evening, a guy brought a little dog to a party and made everyone kiss it goodnight, Kaptein said.
"I know milk does a body good, but baby, how much have you been drinking?"
While some will go above and beyond the normal tricks to open up a conversation, most keep their operations to a flattering and mediocre level.
"Girls like unique things. You say something like, 'you have great cheekbones' and they totally go for it," said Josh Gilbert, a freshman business administration major.
Andrew Nortrup, a junior communications major, agrees that there is a great deal of manipulation involved in the casual one-liner.
"I'd say the best thing is just to lie and make yourself look as good as you can," Nortrup said. "Lying is good since pick-up lines don't usually work."
Gilbert, as well as many others, often resorts to casual conversation. Tactics like asking a lot of questions, as well as cute nicknames, work well, according to most.
"Sweetie, cutie, any adjective," Gilbert said.
Christopher Unangst, a sophomore chemical engineering major, said his closest friends spark a conversation by agitating the girl of interest.
"Once you get their attention, you can sweet talk them to what may come," Unangst said.
"You make me melt like hot fudge on a sundae."
Some guys just seem to take the cake when it comes to the pick-up line. What works one day becomes stale the next.
"This one ugly kid managed to date like three girls in one semester because he's so manipulative," said Lauren Green, a senior engineering major. "He'll make you feel like the queen, and say things like 'oh, you're my favorite person to hang out with,' and then the next day totally ignore you."
"What does it feel like to be the most beautiful girl in this room?"
Picking up girls is an art, according to Tom, who preferred we not use his last name to avoid diminishing his game.
Tom said he often purchases clothing from a local thrift store and keeps it around his bedroom for girls just in case. When female visitors come over as potential dates, he lends them "his favorite T-shirt" to make them feel like he trusts them, even though they are only Salvation Army purchases.
"A lot of guys play up their good qualities. That they're really good and decent, or that they have money or something that girls want," said Kelsey Frank, a freshman business major.
"They make themselves out to be something they're not," Kaptein agreed.
Stacie Coleman, a pharmacy graduate student, said a guy once faked puking so that he could be alone with her.
"I fell for it because we had been drinking, but I think I would have even if I wasn't," she said.
"You are the reason men fall in love."
Keven Massare, a freshman business major, comes up with his pick-up lines on the spot, but one of his favorite is a classic: "If I said you had a beautiful body, would you hold it against me?"
"They laugh, but then they still talk to me," Massare said.
Some become downright manipulative when trying to get a girl to talk. Chris Lilis, a freshman business major, said his friend pretends that someone in his family has just died to get the attention of a girl.
Unangst thinks this goes beyond the unwritten rules of pick-up lines.
"By planning into it too much, demeaning and blatantly lying, I think you're crossing the line," he said.
But for those who succeed at the one liner, nothing is sweeter than success.
"The only way you know when you get a knockout is when you both make eye contact, and she makes that little smile at you," Gilbert said. "It goes past a pickup line."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
