Love Smart, Part 2: Target-rich Environments

A piece of advice that Dr. Phil shares in his book Love Smart, is that women need to have a strategy to meet men, and they need to go where the men go — target-rich environments. Armed with

Dr. Phil's tips, Jo-Anne and Stacey start their search in a bookstore. Stacey is a single 26-year-old who has looked everywhere for a man but has had no luck.

 

"One of your tips is, 'Have an opening line,'" Jo-Anne says. "I found a guy, and I had a nice conversation." The guy was interested and gave Jo-Anne his business card and cell phone number. "I'm definitely going to give him a call and hopefully get a date or two."

 

"Dr. Phil, you said dating is a numbers game, so we're going to go somewhere else and look for some more men," Stacey says as she and Jo-Anne travel to the batting cages. The girls find men to help them

learn to swing a bat and hit balls.

 

One guy they meet says Stacey smiles a lot; a Dr. Phil tip.  Dr. Phil also suggests getting out of your comfort zone. "Dr. Phil, this was totally out of my comfort zone," Jo-Anne says. "But, I really enjoyed this."

 

For their last stop, the girls hit a bar. They meet men and strike up many conversations. "When we would go up to a couple of guys at the bar, they were very

receptive to us," Stacey says. "They were very nice. They were really interested in what we were doing, why we were there." She talked to six or seven guys and got one phone number and one wanted her e-mail address.
 
"The target-rich environments that you suggested, Dr. Phil, were really great," Jo-Anne says.

Noelle and Judy were also sent to target-rich environments, but because they weren't schooled in the Love Smart tips, they weren't quite sure what to do once they got there. While walking a dog on a populated walking trail, they encounter men who are running or walking, but none strike up a conversation — though one does have a quip about their canine companion. "One promising prospect, and he wants to eat the dog," Judy says jokingly.
 
Next, it's off to the driving range to hit golf balls. Noelle asks a man t

here to help the women out. "I told him my name.  He said his, and I don't remember it," she laughs.
 
For their final stop, the women go to a hardware store. Noelle starts talking with some guys who are shopping, but she doesn't have a good opening line, so the conversation flounders. "We're not having any luck today," Noelle concedes.

 

Dr. Phil explains that in Love Smart, he lists many places where women can find guys, as well as ice breakers and conversation starters to help meet someone. He asks Noelle and Judy, "Do you think if you were armed with those you would have done better?"
 
"Yeah, of course," they both say.