A lot of millennial guys are weak and socially inept, something which too much reliance on dating apps, social media and other forms of digital communication have contributed to.
Dating apps and social media are for guys who are pussies and don't have the balls to approach women in real life.
I believe the over-reliance only digital communication to meet and 'chat' with the opposite sex has made a lot of women of this generation socially inept too.
I agree with all of this.
Non-bar approaching has always been more of a niche activity than nightlife approaching. I'd argue that swipe apps and social media DMs has likely reduced non-bar approaching, but the impact on non-bar approaching has been less than the impact on bar approaching.
those beta males would have had terrible/non-existent game and could only approach women while they were drunk and had 'Dutch courage'. The alpha males with good game back then got the bulk of the *****, and that's still true today.
The typical beta male either in the 1990s-2000s or 2010-present needed liquid courage to be able to start approaching. We agree.
Non-bar approaching is real test of a man's approaching skill because it isn't a common practice to do non-bar approaching when intoxicated. It would be possible to take a strong drink in a mall's parking lot, do approaches for 1-2 hours, and then leave. A similar thing could be done in the parking lot of a path, city park, or a grocery store parking lot. Most non-bar approachers won't do what I described in the last sentence & are doing the approaches completely sober.
once you get to an advanced level of game, you realise that a woman 'having a boyfriend' is irrelevant. You can still pursue them as you would any other woman. That is a deep subject, but one you can master with experience.
I subscribe to the saying 'All women are single unless they have a ring on their finger'. I personally draw the line at married or engaged women, but the term 'boyfriend' does not have the same connotations.
The line 'I've got a boyfriend' is the biggest sh*t test women will use to test men. Once you realise this, you never again need fear the 'I've got a boyfriend' line again. It's a chance for you to shine and show her how good your verbal seduction skills and confidence really are.
I turn the boyfriend objection to my advantage. If a girl is saying she 'has a boyfriend' but is still standing there giving me receptive body language, I either simply ignore it and carry on my interaction, or use comebacks I've developed to counteract is. This often swings the seduction in my favour and the fact that she 'has a boyfriend' becomes irrelevant.
Only a rookie or naive guy gives up when a girl says she 'has a boyfriend'.
That said, if a girl says she has a boyfriend but immediately ends the interaction or gives you very unreceptive body language, you should move on to another girl. Most of the time, though, it's simply a test and most guys fall for it!
I got the "I Have a Boyfriend" (IHAB) way more in the 2000s then I have gotten since 2010. I can't remember the last time I got that line.
There were a couple of times in the 2010s when I got "IHAB'ed" and pushed back with a "Boyfriend Destroyer Line". There was no time where my Boyfriend Destroyer Line worked. I strongly agree that every man should push back when hearing about the boyfriend if she directly mentions it. Some women might subtly mention a boyfriend in the midst of a conversation. In those cases, that isn't an IHAB and it's unclear if it is a shiit test. In most cases, it's still worth pushing the envelope and trying to get the date.
You're right that most men fail the boyfriend shiit test.
Because I've rarely gotten the IHAB shiit test in the past 7-10 years, I thought women were getting better at making excuses.
In this 2021 video, this daygame newbie got IHAB'ed multiple times, so the IHAB isn't dead.
Women wearing earbuds/headphones may simply enjoy listening to music.
I never let the fact that a woman is wearing earbuds or headphones put me off approaching them. When I'm walking on the street, I usually motion to them with a slight wave of my hand when I'm close to the woman in order to get their attention since they probably won't be able to hear me if I speak. What usually happens (though not always) is that they take off their earbuds/headphones, then I can simply launch into my direct approach as I would with any other girl. Don't let the fact she's wearing headphones stop you from approaching her. It's just an excuse.
I've had a difficult time in navigating the earbud problem in the past ~10 years. It does likely reduce the number of approaches that women field.
I have approached women with earbuds when I received IOIs.
You have to distinguish between girls who are walking towards you vs in the same direction as you. If walking towards you, you can say a simple 'Excuse me', even do a slight wave to get her attention, while looking into her eyes. If she stops, you can launch into your approach.
For girls who are walking in the same direction as you, perhaps a little in front of you, you don't need to worry about getting them to stop. Just walk alongside them - you can 'walk and talk' as you do your approach. Gauge her reaction - if she seems receptive to your approach then carry on, or if not them cut your losses and move on to the next girl.
In path approaching, I've preferred to approach women walking towards me. I find those to be the easier approaches.
