Don Juan Boot Camp Journal

[deltahawk]

I am continuing where I left off from Week 2 of the Don Juan Boot Camp. Week 2 of the Don Juan Boot Camp involves having 2-10 minute conversations with at least 10 different strangers. To challenge myself, I do not count conversations with workers at a store. Previously, I was writing in a personal journal in which I recorded my experience in taking part in the Boot Camp, and I was reluctant to share my experience with you guys in the Don Juan Discussion Forum. Well, I have finally decided to share this with you to keep myself accountable and possibly get some input on improving my experience in this Boot Camp.

Stranger #3

So, I was in Ralphs one night and noticed a girl who was browsing the books section. I asked her if she has read any of these, and she replied that she hasn't. I told her that I was not much of a reader, so I haven't either. We then talked about the price of the books, how they were not that expensive. I asked her what she likes to read, and she told me that she liked to read Spanish books. She added that many books are written in Spanglish, a combination of Spanish and English, and because she is Mexican-American, she is able to read them. She made a suggestion that you can return the book once you read it to get your money back because she is cheap like that! The bottom line is that the conversation went way too slowly because of me; I need to be a faster talker.

Stranger #4

In Ralphs, I approached a woman who looked like she was having trouble stacking these items on the corner of her shopping cart. She told me that she was preparing for her relative's baby shower. I asked her where she was going to have the baby shower in, and she told me a hall. Actually, what I wanted was what city, and it took me way too long for me to ask her what I really meant in that question because I was reluctant to ask that question in the first place. I thought that it was too personal, and yes, I know that it is not that personal. She countered with a personal question of her own, and that was if I was married. I told her no, and she asked me if I had any kids. I told her no, again. Anyway, she told me that she was thinking about making the items that she was stacking fit into a bowl. The conversation went pretty slowly. She told me that I will learn after I said that I did not know anything about this baby shower stuff, and I left it at that.

Stranger #5

I was in a RadioShack near my workplace, and I saw this guy who looked a little homeless. I asked him what he was looking for, and he told me some RCA output converter thing-a-ma-jig. I asked him to repeat what he said, and he just pointed at the item that was most similar to what he was really looking for, and he described it to me. I asked him what he was going to use it for. He told me that he does hobby projects, and he was trying to hook up a stereo system. I asked him if he works, and he told me no. Mistakenly, I think I asked him right after where he works, and he told me that he works from home! As if he wasn't annoyed that I did not listen to him and just went straight to the next question as if I automatically assumed that he works. Anyway, I told him where I worked when he asked me the same. I told him that it was nice meeting him and asked for his name, and I subsequently told him mine. I tried to be a little quicker in talking. The end.

Stranger #6

I saw this guy eating next to two girls. I tried to wait until they reached a quiet moment in their conversation, so I can open up to them and tell the guy what's up. He greeted back in a friendly manner, and I asked him if they work around here. He told me yes, and it is actually in Downtown LA. He told me that he was in Koreatown just to have lunch. I asked him which company he works for, and he told me that it was a non-profit. I also asked him what their ethnicity was, and he told me their ethnicity. I was running out of questions, to be honest. I asked him if he liked what he was eating and what the price of it was. (I am Korean, and I thought that I had the right to ask.) It was too much of a Q&A, and I didn't share anything about myself, even though he told me that they work in the law department of the non-profit, and I could have said that I work for an online law school. Whatever.

Tomorrow, I am planning to approach two more strangers, and I want them to be women around my age, this time.

 

[deltahawk]

By the way, I am recording these conversations into my smart phone.

 

[deltahawk]

The final four

Stanger #7

I went to Marshall's and was browsing around when I saw this girl around my age. She looked like a 7, and I decided to approach her. I greeted her with a hi and asked her if she was doing any Christmas shopping. She said no, she was doing house shopping. I asked her if she was looking for any clothes in particular, and she said no, not really. I commented that she had a dining set in her cart, and she acknowledged. When she was looking at a sweater, I made a joke that a girl's medium is a guy's extra small. I also read what the back of her shirt said. It was a motivational message by the Marines, and she mentioned that her husband was in the Marines. I asked her if he fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and she said yes. I told her that I am interested in the military and asked her if she was interested, too. She said that she used to be, but not so much anymore. I told her that her husband fought well, and she said yes. We exchanged names, and I told her nice to meet you and ditto.

Stranger #8

I was not going to count this one, but f*** it. I erased this recording from my smart phone, so the following details may not be 100% correct. She was an old lady who approached me when I was in the laundromat about to dry my clothes. She made a comment about the dryers being humongous compared to the washers, and I told her that I agreed. She asked me if I was in school, now, and I told her no, I work at an online law school. After I noted that she was drying a mat that said USC on it, she told me that her son went to USC and got a degree in some major. I told her that I got my B.S. degree from UCSB in Computer Science. She made a comment that it was unusual for Computer Science graduates to work for healthcare places in Canada or something like that when they should have gone to Google or Microsoft. I told her that healthcare IT is a growing field. She didn't know jack, so we just kind of talked more until she left. The end.

Stranger #9

I was in Target in Montebello, and I approached an older woman. I told her that it looked like she was having trouble choosing what to buy, and she said that she usually takes forever for her to decide before making the purchase. I wanted to confirm that it took me a long time to shop since I was trying to look for the cat food section. I asked her how long it was taking her to find the type of product that she was searching for. She said that she didn't know, and she confirmed that it takes forever for her to shop. I made a comment that there were a lot of people here, tonight, and she agreed. We were talking about the days when the greatest number of people come to shop and such. I told her that I am not from this area and told her specifically where I was from. I drove from work and decided to drop by Target since it was on the way. She told me that she had a long day, too. She was up since early in the morning because of her work schedule. Typical close with exchanging of each other's names. Goodbye to each other.

Stranger #10

Still in Target. I was in line about to get rung up for my cat food. I was actually trying to talk to this girl (8) in front of me, and then all of a sudden, I get surprised by this woman behind me. I told her thank you when she put the divider on the conveyer belt behind my cat food. Then, I realized that she was being rude when she looked like she wanted me to get out of her way. She and her family or friends were laughing at me...because of my race. I was like WTF. Nobody disrespects me like that. I told her that I appreciated the comments, and they were still laughing at me and s***. I told her it might be funny to you, but it is hurtful to me, so don't say whatever you said to me again, please. She said OK. Thank God. As I was getting the transaction processed, I asked the guys if I have seen them before because I think I recognized them. I told them that I might have seen them in a supermarket in El Monte before. I told the girl who was part of the family that I used to work there when she asked me. I told them that I am not trying to be an enemy but a friend, and that we're all human.

I am done with Week 2.

 

[Purefilth]

Way to go man. Get week 3 under way.

 

[deltahawk]

Guys, I have to admit. This week is by far, the most difficult. I have been really struggling with getting the nerve to go up to a girl whom I would want to date with and just greeting her and talking to her about something. I constantly fear getting rejected, and I was in the same Ralphs two days ago. I tried talking to three girls, and they seemed as if they did not want to talk to me. I really felt like giving up after that. Yesterday, I kind of explored Target and just tried to do my own thing instead of hunting for girls. I kept on thinking to myself that these girls would have better things to do than spend time with me. This is coming straight from the heart, guys. Today, I just went straight home after work. It's been a long journey, and I want to say that I have not really quit yet. I am going to stick with this to the end, and my ultimate goal really is to just ****ing improve myself, g**damnit. I don't want to be ****ed with anymore. Nobody ****s with me. I think that the purpose of this Don Juan Boot Camp is to turn yourself into a man, more than just getting girls. Yeah, I mean, really, I still see myself as a boy, who can hardly defend himself, much less defend a girl. This is not the end, guys.