The sexy stranger at the bar hasn’t noticed you.
You’ve tried your various ploys to no avail.
He didn’t come over when you tied the cherry stem with your tongue or expertly sank the eight ball.
Or she wasn’t drawn in by your cool “I’m-a-man-who’s-been-hurt-and- needs-compassion” look, or your biceps, which you intentionally flexed while raising the beer to your mouth.
Dammit, what now?
You can try what men in southern Italy do: Hiss or make kissing sounds with your mouth. But you’ll likely get shot down or slapped.
Instead, you could just saunter on over and go for it. Use a pick-up line, the last resort of the desperate, or the desperately drunk.
During a deployment to the Persian Gulf in the spring, several sailors on the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier shared their pick-up line stories, from the smooth moves to the pathetic.
Though seeing a servicemember in uniform is enough to get some folks salivating, Seaman Apprentice Glenn Fuller said some women turn up their noses when they find out he’s a sailor.
“ ‘I’m in the Navy’ — that doesn’t work,” said Fuller, 18, a mess management specialist. Women figure he won’t be on shore enough to develop any kind of relationship.
During deployments, Seaman Demetries Amos, 22, said he knows how to get in the good graces of the women. The mess management specialist normally just shovels whatever food is already cooked onto sailors’ plates. But when an attractive woman steps up, he flashes a smile and says, “How do you like your eggs?”
Being bold can pay off, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Rickey Parker, 26, an information systems technician. “I said to a girl, ‘Hey you, wanna buy me a drink?’ It worked, but from then I kind of froze up and didn’t know what to say.”
Some of the approximately 500 women on the Yokosuka, Japan- based carrier said one of the more popular lines is, “What’re we gonna do when we get to port?”
When asked what pick-up lines Airman Apprentice Kodie Hay heard, she responded, “How much paper do you have?”
Hay, 19, a mess management specialist, gets random e-mails from sailors who got her name from her uniform.
“They’ll write, ‘I’ve seen you on the mess decks. You’re pretty,’ ” she said. “They’re almost pathetic.”
Many don’t use lines. A subtle nod of the head and confident “ ‘sup” may be all it takes.
Several of the guys said they like being on the receiving end of come-ons.
Seaman Apprentice Travis Simmons said a woman doesn’t need to use a line to get his attention.
“She can just say, ‘Come here.’ Hell, yeah, that works,” said Simmons, 20, a mess management specialist. “Girls can say just about anything.”
His reaction to a simple “Friends” Joey “How you doin’?” : “Oh my god, she likes me!”
Flattery may do the trick.
“A girl told me I looked like Denzel Washington,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin Turner, 27, an information systems technician. “It worked.”
When Airman Apprentice John Pottinger 19, an aviation ordnancemen, worked at a fast-food restaurant, women hit on him via the drive-thru speakers.
“They’d say, ‘You have a sexy voice; what’re you doing tonight?’ I’d say, ‘I dunno, depends on what you look like,’ ” he grinned. “I loved working fast food.”
Or combine the flattery with an honest statement of what you’re really after, like Pottinger’s favorite (“Nice shoes, wanna [expletive]?”) or a classic “Beavis and Butthead” (“Uh, like let’s drop all the b.s. and like, you know, do it.”)
