Wow so many great responses to this one! Thanks guys!
I think this bit of advice nailed it. I really need to work on that. I get that look in my eyes like "oh fuck... did you just ask THAT?"

I like the idea of playfully lying and averting the question too, with something like "I'm a ninja," lol, brilliant. I remember reading something about that too but it had escaped my mind when I posted this question.
Exactly! We don't like to think it matters, but it does. And in my case (as someone pointed out) I have inner game issues going on too, so the combination just kind of cripples me.

If she's a gold digger I don't want her anyway? I don't think that's the case, because if it comes down to it following that logic, I should only be pursuing women who like me for me anyway. Yet I'm here (I know, I should work natural game into my routine... and I hope to... but I see even having a routine as deviating from who I truly am to begin with) and dammit I wanna do better than a 5!
I also believe this to be true too (this quote and the previous quote are not mutually exclusive), however I don't have the social clout for this to make up for my shitty employment (I've made INCREDIBLE progress in that area in the last ten years though, if you guys knew me personally you'd be amazed. I think that once I'm able to move out of this area this part won't be a problem anymore).
I like how straightforward you were in answering the question directly, but that's not to say the more elaborate discussion from other posters wasn't welcome.
bwahahaha
I realize the truth in this... but I'd like to be able to game that girl anyway, if for nothing else than karmic retribution.
A very perceptive post. I've done some of the David DeAngelo stuff (but I'm about due for a review). I have an appointment with a professional therapist for the 24th (no idea how I'm going to pay for that), I'm hoping that will help me out with my inner game.
To be honest with you my only ambition (and this wasn't always the case, will explain when I get to responding to this threads first response) is to get to a level with women that I feel is in alignment with my looks and intelligence (which aren't bad at all, if I do say so myself, even though I use too many parentheses). Lately I've been getting into guitar pretty hard (though I haven't been practicing enough since discovering the existence of all this material), so that's one thing I'm ambitious about... it's just not practical.

Also still not through with the mystery method yet, so I still have to learn to DHV in other ways, that will probably help out an awful lot.
I probably should have given you guys a little more details about my position.

I went to college for two years. It was a highly selective, private, liberal arts college (worst mistake of my life). I failed, got suspended, and buried myself in student loans, which I then defaulted on (I could tell you reasons for all this, but it's water under the bridge now). With federal loans in default, I no longer have access to federal financial aid, effectively making even a community college impossible to afford on what I make.

Also, you can see a list of all the posts a user has made by clicking on their name, then on their profile clicking on the right side of the screen where it says "Show all posts" or something like that. Not that I'd ask anyone to go THAT far out of their way to answer my question, you just seemed unaware of it.
I can relate to that. I always thought there'd be nice, hard, middle-class factory-style work available if I ever fucked up in college. lol.

I do really like the idea of becoming a paralegal though. And your whole post sounds awesome! I'm aware of how many amazing women are in college.

Jitz, brilliant. Those are all going on my flashcards.

In the days since I made this post I've been doing some hard thinking about how I'm going to improve my social status (because let's be honest, I HAVE to, I wouldn't have to if my personality sucked less, and I don't necessarily think it does, but women seem to...) and I've come to the conclusion that I have to join the Air Force.

So in a month (see my post about marijuana, officially quitting today, I will miss that like an old friend...) I am going to walk into the recruiters office and sign my life away for four years, so I can afford to show an awesome woman the good times she deserves, so I can afford to buy nice looking clothes, so I can afford to attend that seminar with Mystery (or whoever). So I can afford to go out and try to learn to be more social (my latest experiment I call perma-smile, I have been forcing myself to have a smile on EVERYTIME I see something, and I'm starting to notice results).

Also the Air Force has a program that helps to pay off student loans, so I should be able to muster an education in that way...

Now I'm not very ambitious about this goal (actually it sounds like a four year jail sentence to me), but it's a goal, and it's a start. I've been thinking about doing this for years now but haven't because I love pot. However, I'm much more motivated now that I think there's actually some HOPE for me to become more successful in matters of romance, and I think this might actually be my time to stop smoking. Before reading "The Game" I didn't think there was any hope for me, and that I'd have to settle for someone I'm not happy with, or be lonely the rest of my life.

I really do appreciate all the well thought-out responses you guys. I know I'll be stopping back at this post from time to time to reinforce all the good advice here.

Oh yea, as for what I'm going to do when I do get another shot at an education? I have no idea. Most of my life I wanted to be computer programmer, but didn't figure that out until I went to college, but when I did that I realized I suck at writing code (then again, I picked the WRONG college to do that at). So now I have no idea what I want to do. All I really want out of life is to smoke bud, work a nice middle class job that let's me sustain myself, practice guitar, and improve my game (or get married, whichever comes first).

Hey SeekingSatisfaction, here's my two cents regarding getting over your social status issue.

1. You mentioned you can't get nice clothes. Solution: Don't wear clothes. No joke, get in awesome shape, and engage in activities that require minimal clothing, where you can be shirtless, such as bike riding, jogging, etc.

2. You mentioned your social value is low because you work in the food service industry. Solution: Go after younger women (like the kind that go bike riding and jogging, etc.). To date a younger woman, pretty much all you need is a car and some attitude, and maybe not even a car, with enough attitude.

3. You mentioned you don't have money to go out. Solution: Engage in activities that don't cost money, like bike riding, going out to the park, jogging, free yoga classes, etc.

So with all this said, once you start engaging in these activities, if you're in great shape, girls will notice it. All you've got to do is chat them up (and also the guys in the group) and they'll be receptive, for the most part. If they ask you what you do for a living, tell them you're a starving artist/musician/novelist, etc. You should be able to pull it off with enough preparation.

If these activities don't exist in your area, then start them up. Be a leader, women love that. You can use FB to start a jogging or a bicycling group that meets regularly, and you can call the shots, establishing yourself as the alpha male every time the group meets.

Best of luck, man!

Adam:

1) I do plan to get in awesome shape. However, the problem with meeting chicks on the bike path or what have you is that I live in a rather rural area, and it's a lonely bike path most of the time. Soon enough though I'm planning to alleviate that problem by moving to a city, so I'll probably end up trying that one. However, I'd still like to have more than a few nice sets of clothing because Mystery says go sarging four nights a week, and that sounds kinda hard to do with just the bike path...

2) Attitude is something I lack, and I can't afford a car on minimum wage.

I also really like the idea of organizing something over facebook so I can be the leader and thus the alpha male. I'll think about that one.

UPDATE: got a callback today on a job that pays almost four dollars an hour more than what I'm currently making. Interview scheduled. Wish me luck.