Understanding the Pet Shop Opener

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Q. Hey WIA, I’m having a problem with the pet shop opener and the elderly chat. Should I switch to more direct game?

A. This post might ruffle some feathers, but the pet shop opener is not an easy one to use. Neither is elderly chat easy to use.

Second question first – Should you switch to more direct game? 

You need to learn both.  You can’t always see a girl and get super sexual and expect her to be with it. (Great for night game, street festivals, and concerts.  Basically anything with density and alcohol)

In most game situations, having social savvy will get the P into V better than being a caveman.   (learn caveman game though)

The Pet Shop Opener

They’re both easy to understand and are easy on a young player’s ego, but the young player just going out for the first few months might be atsea when it comes to making these canned routines do what they’re supposed to do.

[Ed. Funny how these canned lines don’t get the hate that most of the early 2000’s pua stuff gets. Wait, why am I ‘Ed.-ing’ my own words? ]

Before we dissect these, let’s go back to some Game 101.

You need to believe that it’s possible to get a girl to like a guy from a cold approach.

You need to believe that this is possible for *you*, not some fictional average man out there.

Opening

Opening is just starting the conversation.  Strangers start conversations with each other all the time..in our culture that is.  Other places I’ve heard, there’s much more social atomization and privacy.  And other places (South America, Africa, etc) folks can be much more open armed.  It really depends.

Opening, by itself, will not result in a bang.   “Hey” is an opener.  But “Hey” isn’t a magic word.

That’s openers.

Basic Game Structure

The other piece that needs to be explained is that the basic game structure is

1. Get attention of young lady
2. Open the young lady
3. Show (not tell) your positive qualities (Verbally and Non-Verbally)
4. Wait for her to show signs, (it gets more complicated – see other posts on Female to Male attraction)
5. Make her work for your attention/favor before you validate her.

So recap

1. Opening is simple
2. Show value, make her chase.

Capiche?

Now when it comes to the pet shop opener, I always envision a guy with a shopping bag seeing a lone girl with her shopping bag in some European city center.    But it’s always a day game scenario.

So he sees said lonely girl, he sidles up to her and says

“Do you know where there is a pet shop?”

She replies, but what she says doesn’t really matter.

“Because, I need to go to a pet shop for this reason…” And then he starts rambling. (Talking to her, showing value, but not showing that he’s sexually interested)

And that’s basically it.

The opening line is a question.  It’s a fairly interesting question, one that most people don’t get asked.  And then the transition is largely seamless and logical.

So the question opens, but it’s the reason (the punch line if you will)that is what really is supposed to get the girl engaged in the conversation.

Using the patented WIA game analysis engine (lol) – what is the sub-communication?

At the top level, you’re asking for help.  But by rambling and telling your story, she

• Knows that you want to chat (and by stepping up and chatting, like it’s something you do all the time – she can glean that you’re assertive, and this usually goes well for you.  So she can be at ease)
• Gets a bit of your personality (and that’s a demonstration of who you are)

Here’s the man himself on the topic

Rhetorical Hater – So Archie, you know everything about game, what’s wrong with this?

Hey I’m not game guru, I’m still learning.  I ask questions from guys that I respect on the regular.

And nothing is wrong with this.  I’ve gotten phone #’s and instadates off this and similar openers.    But I didn’t start out with this kind of game.  I’d had thousands of night game and social circle conversations before hand.

So breaking it down.

On the plus side, just starting an innocent conversation and talking with a stranger is low stress for the player.   Anyone can do this.  Rambling and Elderly Chat are the same sort of thing.  The only problem that new players have with this is that they run out of things to say.  If the girl doesn’t help them, the approach fizzles.

So it doesn’t threaten your mental state in the moment, and you probably have enough inner game strength (ideally) to get started with this.    No hits to the ego.  No harsh rejections.  No insurmountable obstacles.  Nothing complicated to memorize.

So of the 4 corners of game, 1) inner game, 2) technique aka outer game – these two are covered.

Rhetorical Hater – Wait, what?  4 corners of the game?

Glad you asked, the other 2 are, 3) Social Context, 4) How the Chick is feeling/What she might be thinking.

Social Context

The homey “Todd Valentine” of RSD fame talks about the social dynamics a bit in one of his products.  (I forget which).   Every social interaction is one person giving to another.  But people have limits to what they’ll give a stranger.

If you went up to a stranger and asked them for 1,000 dollars, they would keep walking.  I see homeless people ask for one dollar bills, and women in pant suits keep it moving.  Probably pre-dialed the 9 and the 1.

However, If you ask someone for the time, they’ll give it to you.

Am I going in the right direction for the train station?  They will point you in the right direction.

Common courtesy, and it only costs the question answerer a little bit of time and minimal effort.

But when you ask for more, more than they’re willing to give, more than the social context requires of the situation, that’s when you meet resistance.

And that’s the hard part about day game.  At least at night, the social environment “let’s you assume the best”. *MESSAGE – USING THE ENVIRONMENT TO MAKE DECISIONS FOR YOU, DOUBLED EDGED SWORD*

So in the Pet Shop Scenario – the initial question is asking a little bit more than where is the train station.  It’s a subtle thing, but it’s one that we can use to rework the opener.  Because you’re draining her a bit to ask the question.

Her feelings!

Now I’ll be the first person to tell you that you shouldn’t really try to figure out exactly what a girl is going to do or say.  Keep the poker tactics at the table.   “If she thinks, that I think, that she thinks….”

That being said, you cant’ be a dummy either.

How would you respond to this question?

How would a typical young cute girl respond to this question? (Would there be a big difference?)

Chances are good that she’s a pet owner, but it could go the either way.  If she’s a pet owner, she might just give you a straight up answer.   You’re actually looking for her to not know where a pet store is, but interested in hearing about the pet store. (it’s a gamble in my mind)

Feeling wise, how invested can she be emotionally in helping you find a pet store?  Especially if the emotional draw/personality value comes AFTER the question?

You’re asking for value from her, before giving her value.  Why should she give you common courtesy?  When you start running up on chicks, a lot of them are so ….angry…that they throw common courtesy out the window.

So how would I remix the Pet Shop Opener?

I’d pack more game into the opening question.  I’d give her something that *statistically* she might care about.

Chick Crack.

“Net Game” used to talk about chick crack. This was stuff like personality tests, psychology quizzes, astrology, palm reading, body language cues, pop culture…et cetera.   You talked about things that they knew about, or were in to, to get the conversation really going.

Really Old School PUA would be about mirroring them.  Getting their values and quietly becoming the asshole boyfriend.

Newer School PUA reversed.  I don’t want to be like her, I want her to be like me.  I’m not going to turn myself into what she wants (or says she wants), she’s going to become what I want.

So with chick crack, old school would talk about Beyonce or Real Hip Hop ATL and vibe with the girl, and New School would talk about it and then disqualify themselves because the chicks liked Nene or whoever is on that show.  Or something like that.

So taking these two things – chick crack and remaking a chick into your image – you update the new school Pet Shop opener by starting the pet shop opener with a bit of a challenge.

1. “You look like a dog/cat/animal lover….” (a cold read that begs the question)
2. “Hey are you cat kinda girl or a dog kinda girl” (a question that’s easy to answer, and one that everyone has an opinion on)
3. “OMG, total emergency, do you know of a 24 hour pet store…… See my Ex’s ferret got out of the cage, and I can’t find him…I was thinking that i’d rent a ferret..”  (the drama of an ex girl friend…”

Rhetorical Hater – “Isn’t this a bit contrived? A ferret?  Really?  Are you wearing a fuzzy hat?”

Asking a girl about a pet store is the height of contrivance.   It’s totally artificial.

But it opens.  And when you’re starting out, until you get the rhythm of conversation and how girls typically respond TO YOU, using some tried and true routines are good training wheels.  Once you get the rhythm, you can basically use your own stories and punch them up, and drop them whenever you need to.

-Archie