Are You a PUA, NuBreed?

Even when the pickup acronyms weren't outdated the majority of them seemed pretty childish to me; except the ones I made up myself. ;) The labeling thing seems stupid, but we all do it subconsciously when judging if guys are fit to be our friends. If I'm a dart-player and fisherman and you are too, then we'll get along. It's just that we don't call ourselves "DP" or "fisherman," rather, we say, "Hey, you like to fish too? Man, we should hang out sometime," and someday you fish together. "Are you a PUA?" sounds dumb, and I'd never say it, but we used to ask new guys we'd meet: "So, how are the ladies treating you?" Depending on their answers, we might have a beer with them sometime and afterward talk to a few girls. Same process but just doesn't sound as weird as "Are you a PUA and if so will you be my wing to sarge some sets?"

So although I don't like the label, if PUA means "guy who's devoted a certain period of his life to attempting to pick up increasingly hotter girls by continuing to study them," then I'm no exception to the PUAs in "The Game," just not as lame. Any way you slice it I am a guy who picks up girls. I didn't go to Japan to improve my lifestyle, learn which songs to sing at karaoke, or learn about fashion. I went to pick up hot, so I'd say I'm "certainly a PUA." And although I don't do it the way Mystery teaches I've never met anyone in Japan who does it Mystery's way who picks up girls any hotter than the average girls I got my first year or two in Japan. If pickup skill has three levels--3-good, 2-average, 1-bad--I and most of the guys I was/am friends with in Japan found themselves going from 2 to 3 at some point. I think the Mystery-style stuff is only good for helping someone go from 1 to 2, but those techniques can never move you past 3. You have to do that on your own. When I tried it I think I went from 3 back to 2. It's like riding a tricycle. Sure, the tricycle's easy to learn and will get you to the next neighborhood, but when you finally take the time to learn to ride a bicycle (i.e. study Jap, study women) you can go faster and further with less effort.