Quote:
i feel like these days opinion openers arent the best way to go in colleges. what you need to remember is that most people in college want to make friends, just no one wants to make the first move.
For example i would go up to the groups in the cafeteria and say "hey guys, how ya doin, i was just over there sitting alone enjoying my mcdonalds crappy meal when i saw that everyone els was sitting with their friends, and i figured i may aswell make some friends while im here
"
and then id go into a routine about how its weird that every one has approach anxiety and even though most people want to be friends and everyone has so much in common, no one has the guts to say anything.
it works because its relevant to the situation you are in, getting into a routine that isnt relevant at all to your situation might confuse them and think youre weird when in reality youre just trying to be a friendly guy
If only I read this earlier. I didn't realize that my indirect openers were getting bad results. And I needed to go semi-direct by using a line similar to the one you've mentioned. Next time I should have said the simple opener:
"Hey, how are you guys doing?"
"I'm new to the college. And am trying to make friends. Mind if I join?"
Btw: I would avoid using a really long opener because it comes off as try hard. Think: Nice, short, sweet and no need to overcompensate with extra words.