Practice flirting

You may not be the world's great lady's man but you're a man and you know you've got to meet girls and move past Amber. Only it isn't easy.

It's not that you freeze up or anything when you meet a girl... well, you sort of do but not completely. It's more that you have a hard time thinking of interesting things to talk about with them.

One of your Humble Bundle purchases was an eBook on talking to people but it always seemed stupid to you... talking about water-avoiding lizards really didn't seem like the way to interest girls. On the other hand, you now recognize that, if you don't break outside of your comfort zone, you'll never be able to move on with your life and you certainly won't be able to hack the sim.

You head out to McDonnalds... not, perhaps, the ultimate pickup spot, but it's a place where a lot of people go.

You spend some time staring at the menu options. Who would have thought that a chicken salad would have more calories and more fat grams than a hamburger? It's probably not fair to flirt with the checker... who, after all, is stuck behind the counter listening to bullshit all day long for minimum wage, but hell, you've got to start somewhere.

"So," you say, "what do you think is the healthiest option on the menu. I'm trying to eat better but don't want to ignore my tastebuds."

"The chicken salad is good."

"But eleven fat grams."

"Think about fat grams per protein gram. You need your protein, right."

Okay, it's not romantic and you're not going to get laid, but you are having a conversation. It's a start. You check out the cashier. She's a cute little thing... she's Asian so you have no idea how old she is, and she has almost no figure but she has a cute smile.

"I'm Mike you say."

"Uh, Krisi." She gestures at her nametag which says 'Mandi.'

"Really? Not Mandi?"

"Oh, heck. I guess I grabbed the wrong one. Anyway, do you want the salad?"

"Yeah, I guess."

You feel a sense of accomplishment as you head to one of the little tables. Yes, Krisi or Mandi probably didn't even know you were flirting, but you managed a coherent conversation with a semi-attractive girl without weirding her out or humiliating yourself. Progress.