Even Rock Stars Get Approach Anxiety

by Eric Disco
Feb 17

I’m at the airport in Vancouver going through immigration when I first see them. They look like rock stars. You can just tell. Aside from their look, they have a presence about them.

They are five guys, looking slightly cooler than everyone else, going through immigration together.

I’m getting the third degree from an immigration official because a few years ago I’d been arrested for a civil disobedience.

After I get through, one of the rock star guys stops me and says that he overheard that I got arrested protesting. He says he thought it was cool.

I ask him what they are in Vancouver for. He says they are a rock band on a 170-city world tour.

“What’s the name of your band?” I ask.

“Buckcherry.” These guys are big. I’ve heard of them before.

I start to vibe with the guy. When I vibe, I usually try to talk about something on my mind. I try to tap into my internal dialogue. I’d been on the road all week teaching workshops in Seattle, Portland and now Vancouver. I ask him “Does it get tiring being on the road?”

“Yeah, but it’s fun. My hometown sucks,” he says.

I tell him that I am a pickup instructor and that I teach guys how to flirt with women. He gets pretty excited.

“I help guys with approach anxiety. It’s tough for guys to approach a girl they don’t know. It’s a fear worse than death for a lot of guys.”

“Yeah!” he responds, “I meet a lot of girls. I get introduced to a lot of girls. We meet plenty of girls. But it’s really hard for me to walk up to a girl I don’t know.”

Other guys in his band show up and he introduces me. “This guy is a pickup artist.”

The other guys are into it.

This shorter asian guy with spiked hair and tattooed arms jumps in. “It’s all a numbers game. And a lot of guys do the run-around, they can’t close,” he says as he makes a closing motion with his hand.

“You should come out tonight, maybe you could show us some of your magic,” says another guy.

They tell me they are playing that night and would put me on the list. They write my name down on one of their pieces of luggage with a sharpie marker. “Eric Disco. Plus one?”

“Sure,” I say.

“Hey man, don’t bring sand to the beach, right?” says the guy.

“Right!” I say and laugh.

“Nice meeting you!” they yell as I walk off.

Pretty cool guys.

-----------------

posted in Acceptance

COMMENTS
4 responses
LEAVE A COMMENT