You have now entered the realm of talking to strangers. You scan the room and ascertaining which of the attractive people are attainable or not. This will change your tactics drastically. With any luck there are a multitude of tall beardy men in the room with no women that they are paying particularly intense attention to. With any luck the same friends who invited you out so you can start to meet people again will also allow you to sit at the bar alone for a reasonable enough amount of time so any interested men may come up and say something deliciously awkward.

Three drinks in and still no response. Time to deploy the move to the next room. Maybe if you are around friends and say funny things loud enough someone will be interested enough to make momentary eye contact and you can pursue at a later time in the night. Repeat this step the necessary amount of time for you to look interesting while also not being obnoxious. Eventually your friends will stop playing this game and someone else will want to talk at some point in the evening.

On to drink number four (or five… you don’t really remember) and you have made eye contact with enough men for you to feel a bit slutty. Make your way back to the bar and then contact is made. This is guy markedly more attractive and funny than you first anticipated and even though he isn’t your first choice of the men you were gawking at he is a great alternative. A few awkward quips later and it seems like the perfect time for you to rejoin your friends. They all look after you with intrigued looks as the guy from the bar has chosen to follow you. A bit early to meet the friends, but it’s a party, you’re supposed to meet new people right?

The evening is coming to an end, and still no effort for number exchange; time to use the coat tactic. Grab your coat and start putting it on. His window of opportunity is now visibly shrinking and he needs to make a move soon. With any luck he will get the hint. Your friends walk ahead of you (towards the drunken Mexican food that everyone agreed needs to happen). The number exchange happens and you spend the rest of the evening looking at the number in your phone just to make sure it is real and you didn’t accidentally delete it. Your friends listen to all your excited rambling, mostly because you are not talking about you-know-how. You get a late night text that is in no way English but still delightful and this solidifies your affection.