Dash Riprock
Master Don Juan
I live in the US. I'm curious what is being broadcast in Russia regarding the Ukraine crisis.
You've replayed it a hundred times. She stood three feet away, scrolling her phone. You had an opening. You composed the perfect line — after she was gone.
For all you know, she's married now. To some guy who said something. Anything.
Openers are cheap. Almost any sentence works when it's delivered within three seconds. The expensive part is the standing there, drafting and deleting, while the window quietly closes.
The "22 Rules" stripped out my hesitation. What to open with, how to keep it alive, and the one habit that costs guys more women than anything else: waiting for perfect.
Dinner ran three hours. She laughed at everything. You walked her to her car thinking this one's locked in.
Then: nothing. Two texts. No reply. What happened?
You did what most men do on a great date. You filled every silence, answered every question, and left her with nothing to wonder about. No mystery. Nothing to sit with when she got home.
Rule 3 of the "22 Rules" changes the ending: tell her a little, hold back the rest, and let her imagination do the chasing. The ghosting stops too.
Now I think this conversation is going into geopolitics, which I don't think it's allowed by the forum. That being said, Putin is not stupid, there are several factors that are going on that go into the geopolitical calculation. One useful perspective is the geographic heartland theory, I would recommend "The Geographical Pivot of History" by Sir Halford John Mackinder and the "Absent Superpower" by Peter Zeihan (I don't agree with Zeihan on a lot of issues, but he is a good communicator).Putin is on a mass propaganda campaign on Russian tv but I don't think it's working in the era of social media. People inside and outside of Russia can see he needlessly attacked a peaceful sovereign country.
The world is watching.
This will prove to be the biggest military and diplomatic blunder of the 21st century as the world coordinates to bring crushing sanctions to his country. Sadly, the innocent Russian people will be greatly affected.
I can say the US is on very high alert and should he place so much as a toe nail on NATO ground, he will be wiped out.
You asked her if she wanted to grab coffee. Then you asked if the time worked. Then you asked if the place was okay. Then you asked if she'd prefer tea.
Four questions. Four chances for her to say no. Four signals that you're terrified of making a decision.
Plan it. Pick the place. Pick the time. Tell her where to meet you. She'll either show up or she won't.
Either way, you look like a man instead of a scared little boy.
You might have misspelled "we will all be wiped out". I suppose the US, Europe, and Russia could end up as smoking holes and China could be left standing.I can say the US is on very high alert and should he place so much as a toe nail on NATO ground, he will be wiped out.
Putin is on a mass propaganda campaign on Russian tv but I don't think it's working in the era of social media. People inside and outside of Russia can see he needlessly attacked a peaceful sovereign country.
The world is watching.
This will prove to be the biggest military and diplomatic blunder of the 21st century as the world coordinates to bring crushing sanctions to his country. Sadly, the innocent Russian people will be greatly affected.
I can say the US is on very high alert and should he place so much as a toe nail on NATO ground, he will be wiped out.
Three seconds. That's how long it took. Your shoes. Your posture. The way you held your drink. Whether you looked at the floor or looked at her.
She already filed you away. Interesting. Boring. Safe. Bold. Before you even opened your mouth.
Everything you say after that is just her confirming what she already decided.
So stop rehearsing lines. Fix the first three seconds. Stand tall. Look up. Smile like you mean it. Walk like you belong wherever you're standing.
The words come later. The impression comes first.
Unacceptable. “The West” has not invaded Putin nor his allies. If sovereign countries want to join NATO that is their prerogative.Western alliés keep poking the bear, Russia is isolated and surrounded, Putin trying To maintain a bufferzone
Should probably say something about this. This is a major international event, it would be hard to justify blocking it all and pretending it doesn't happen. You are not wrong, politics quickly get out of hand when wild speculations appear and hostilities between forum members grow. That's why the rule exists.Now I think this conversation is going into geopolitics, which I don't think it's allowed by the forum.
Basically, he is paranoid. And he is upset with former members of the Soviet Union who have chosen to associate themselves with the West.Unacceptable. “The West” has not invaded Putin nor his allies. If sovereign countries want to join NATO that is their prerogative.
You paid for dinner. You drove. You said "whatever you want is fine" every single time. All the effort, no expectations.
And she left anyway — probably for a guy who makes her pick up the pizza.
Painful. Also predictable. Her mind quietly concludes that anything requiring zero effort from her is worth exactly zero. You became a free sample, and free samples get taken for granted.
The 22 Rules flip the dynamic. Small shifts that get her investing effort, money, and time in you — until SHE'S the one afraid of losing YOU.
It's like Putin's Cuban Missle Crisis.I think what made him flipping were the attacks on the russian minorities in the east but even more the fact that nato missiles would have been put in ukraine.
Which in no way justifies his actions or the authoritarian form of government.Basically, he is paranoid. And he is upset with former members of the Soviet Union who have chosen to associate themselves with the West.
No. If the citizens of Texas vote to become part of Mexico, that doesn’t give Mexico the right to invade the USA to “reclaim” Texas.The same could be said about the people of Crimea. They voted to become part of Russia.
That does not permit for invasion of a sovereign country.International law says people have the right to self determination.
No, that is illegitimate. Again, if citizens of US State Texas hold a vote to join Mexico, they are not part of Mexico nor does it permit an invasion by Mexico into the US.It's not invasion when the people within the boundaries choose to secede and join another govt. That's self determination.
She asks it casually, mid-sip. And you feel the floor open up, because the honest answer is work, gym, and a couple shows you're half-watching.
Women rarely say this out loud, but a man with a life is attractive before he says a word. The guy who spent Saturday deep-sea fishing and came back with photos and a story — he walks in already interesting.
The "22 Rules" pushed me to build a life worth talking about. Turns out the fastest way to be interesting to women is to be interested in your own life first.