Quote: (12-27-2015 09:45 PM)XPQ22 Wrote:
One of the unpleasant things that's happened to me as I've started getting back into night game is dealing with randomly hostile men. It's one of those things that makes me wonder if the bar scene is even worth it for game purposes anymore - when dudes try to start shit with me for no particular reasons it usually puts me in a sour mood for the rest of the night and makes approaching that much harder.
Had this interaction at a trendy dive bar the other night...the bar was crowded and there were few stools available. Guys had been buying chicks drinks left and right and the bar was covered in half full bottles and glasses and it was hard to tell who was sitting where. I grabbed a stool by the end of the bar that appeared to be empty.
Guy sitting next to me looks up from text messaging with a frown on his face:
"You'd better move, dude."
Me: "I'm sorry?"
Guy: "My GIRLFRIEND is sitting there."
Me: "Oh! I didn't realize. Well I'll just let them bring me my beer and I'll be out of your way."
Guy: "Yeah, you fuckin' better."
Yeah, I really do my best to be civil until I can't, but the bolded part above is about the point I get a no-nonsense, "play-time is over" look on my face, set down my beer, stand up, and say, "What did you just say to me?"
If you really don't give a shit, throw a "the fuck" in there for good measure.
I don't know if I can recommend my approach to just anyone - I've been in a ton of altercations in bars, and for whatever reason people like to try me. But I'd say the vast majority of the time guys backpedal and/or tone it down at this point. He knows he's being a dick and chances are he just expected you to take it.
Another (slightly) less confrontational move is the bold and assertive introduction.
Best example I can think of: I was working on this smoking hot bartender who worked at this biker bar and I went to see her on her shift one night. This guy comes in and I shit you not he's pro-basketball size redneck white boy (I've got big arms and am pretty strong, but I'm just under 6 foot). Don't know if he remembered me but I'd had a close encounter with him at a club in the past.
I was all dressed up as I tend to do back home and clearly a stand-out. So this redwood tree of a guy walks in and starts talking to three guys behind me and they're all chuckling and laughing, obviously know each other, and I catch him make a "who's this idiot" gesure at me and says purposefully loud enough for me to hear, "Who the fuck is this guy?"
I set down my beer and popped up on my feet and turned around. You could feel the tension in the room jump up a few notches. Doubt they'd seen this guy challenged often. And I walked directly up the guy as confidently as possible, looked him square in the eye and held out my hand. "I'm BB."
We sat there looking at each other for a sec all serious and then he chuckles nervously and says, "I'm just kidding, man." Shakes my hand. Conversation turns cordial and I held it long enough to be cool and then returned to my seat.
If you were to look at that guy and look at me, no way you'd put the money on me giving him a run for it, but because I was willing to grab the bull by the horns (outsized and outnumbered, no less), he folded his hand. Maybe not out of fear but probably enough uncertainty that he didn't want to be ridiculed in front of his boys if he did get put on his ass. Especially when he was in the wrong. And it's amazing how often that happens with even (or maybe especially) adult bullies.
A while later he bought me a drink, and I actually ended up being friends with that guy later on. At the end of the day, most people don't really want a fistfight. Not to mention that there's a natural human instinct when someone shows no fear like that for a guy to start running thoughts through his brain - "Who is this guy, is he connected, crazy, packing a gun, etc? I didn't expect this..."
I don't always do the handshake tension killer so John Wayne. But I've found it's quite effective to neturalize a guy who is being a dick by even calmly walking over to him and introducing yourself assertively or even buying them a courtesy drink (not as a move made of fear but a gentleman's gesture).
You don't have to say much because the move says enough on its own - Basically: "I don't want problems here and would rather be civilized, but I'm not afraid of you or going to cringe from your bullshit either." Although, I have been known to verbalize something very similar to that too.
My assertive approach may not be for you if you want to avoid a fight at all costs because sometimes it can go the other way too. So use at your own discretion and I'm not responsible if you get beat up. haha I mean, even guys who really are just looking for a fight often reconsider when they see that look of complete confidence in your eye, but not always...
I've had those moments when I've bought a guy a drink to neutralize him and still went on toss him on his head anyways because he couldn't get the point. I mean, at the end of the day, don't go to bars if you can't stomach the real potential for violence that resides there. We all know the chance for it in a drinking environment goes up exponentially.
One thing I love about Asia is I can go out and almost never get in these situations. Don't know about where you live in the states, but the small city I came from is full of that type of nonsense.
I don't know why that drama follows me there, but for whatever reason it's seems to be an American (and British, I've heard) thing. On my last trip home, I walked into a dive bar in Santa Rosa, California in the middle of the daytime and the guy on the stool next to me start fucking with me and announced he had a gun in his pants when I ignored him. And I'm stone cold sober with a cast on my hand and a smile on my face, so not sure what I did to invite it.
There are a lot of douchebags out there.
Beyond All Seas
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling