Recommendations/suggestions on where in NOVA are good places for the straight male love-shy to find nice girls? (Arlington: move to, bars)

[Phoenix2017]

Originally Posted by NYgal29

"At every church I've been to, 95+% of the people were very cold, and it was clear that I would never be accepted or part of the inner circle, and so I've essentially completely given up on that approach."

Try St. Athanasius in Vienna, if you want to give church another shot. Small congregation, very nice and warm people. The people go out of their way to try to make people feel welcomed. There's a few nice single girls there too.

Thanks very much for the great suggestion! Was re-reading the thread briefly and noticed this post...in fact, I will hopefully try attending church services at St. Athanasius tomorrow.

[CAVA1990]

I have a sure-fire technique for meeting women. This is no joke. Get a really cute dog and hang out with it in places with high concentrations of young single women (Old Town Alexandria for instance). I guarantee they'll initiate conversations with you with little or no effort on your part. I can attest first hand that this works.

[Phoenix2017]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

I have a sure-fire technique for meeting women. This is no joke. Get a really cute dog and hang out with it in places with high concentrations of young single women (Old Town Alexandria for instance). I guarantee they'll initiate conversations with you with little or no effort on your part. I can attest first hand that this works.

Thx for the great suggestion CAVA -- in fact if things were different, I would have loved to try that approach...but I am regrettably (very) allergic to cats & dogs though

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Knight2009

Thx for the great suggestion CAVA -- in fact if things were different, I would have loved to try that approach...but I am regrettably (very) allergic to cats & dogs though

Sorry to hear that. I knew a guy who was a dog breeder. Whenever he had a new litter that got to a certain age he'd put them in his SUV and drive to the store. He said it would be hours before he could break free to get home, by then generally accompanied by one of the dog bedazzled women he'd met.

[Phoenix2017]

Originally Posted by NYgal29

Try St. Athanasius in Vienna, if you want to give church another shot. Small congregation, very nice and warm people. The people go out of their way to try to make people feel welcomed. There's a few nice single girls there too.

I was finally able to attend St. Athanasius this Sun., and surprisingly found the parish to be very pleasant and enjoyable to visit overall. I loved the religious / devotional atmosphere of the parish, and genuinely admired the words of the sermon that was delivered by the priest for the daily service.

I arrived about 15 minutes early, so had kind of been hoping to inquire or ask someone for a little more info about how a new person visiting can become more familiar with and participate more in the parish, and/or get contact info about the priest/clergy there, but since everyone was praying in aisles when I got there, I didn't want to disturb anyone in any way. However, the other thing was that since the service was conducted almost wholly in Latin (except for the sermon), it was kind of challenging to follow what was going on in the service. Since the priest kind of disappeared when the service was concluded, I was also unable to get any of the other types of info I had been hoping to obtain. Some of the other denoms. I have been to have some people available to provide info about the church to new members, but didn't really see anyone obvious besides the priest that I could ask for more info.

I have actually been attending Catholic services for a little over a year now, and while I agree fully with the Church's theology, at the same time, it can be extremely challenging for potential new members to become more acquainted with and welcome among the community of believers -- since as far as I am aware, unlike some other denoms., the Catholic Church has no additional services immediately following the Mass, such as Bible study groups or other miscellaneous combination religious/social peer-bonding activities. As a result, unless a person is already Catholic, or is attending service together with their own particular family and friends, it can be very hard sometimes not to feel completely shut out and isolated from everything. (Not saying this is an issue specifically with St. Athanasius...it has been the case regardless of which individual parish I have attended.)

I am certainly open to try attending St. Athanasius again next week, but again I can't help feeling rather skeptical if I could potentially feel as though I would ever be able to really "belong" there, even if I were to attend of a regular basis...

[betamanlet]

Originally Posted by Knight2009

Love-shyness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I know I'm just a new member so far, but a rather serious question I was hoping I could please ask the advice of the NOVA experts on: does anyone have any suggestions or tips on where the best local places for a straight male who is also love-shy might be, in terms of trying to meet nice, caring girls ages 25-30...who are looking for a non-casual relationship? (I've repeatedly tried pubs, churches, bible study groups, dance clubs, local online dating, even the expensive types of local brick-and-mortar dating agencies, with 0% success in finding the kind of girl I was looking for.)

I'm quite serious, and not joking in any way here. At 30, I'm college-educated and have been working in the D.C. federal sector for over 8 years, have dated local girls before, during, and after college, but due to being love-shy, more introverted than extroverted (but still a nice person), and having 0% relationships experience, I have never been in an actual relationship with a girl ever. I'm 100% straight (not gay). Female friends and family are unwilling to help me. I've been told before by many people that I'm a very nice person, and I'm not bad-looking -- have been rated an 8 out of 10 on a 10 point scale before, but even that hasn't helped me.

Other than bars, clubbing, and church (which have all been universally unsuccessful for me), where in NOVA can a guy go to try to meet the elusive "nice girl" type...basically the kind that you'd like to bring home Mom and Dad?

The DC area is probably in the top 3 cities in the US for someone like you to not be. LA and NYC are the same way. You need serious game and status.

Nice girls want bad boys. You by definition are not. And women expect men to be very experienced.

[betamanlet]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Most women don't really care for introverts. At least the ones I know.

Women everywhere want "confident" men, which is the opposite of love shy. Even more so in places like DC.

Your average woman would rather be with a felon than with someone who is love-shy.

REmember, to many women, a guy is a status symbol. Mod Cut

[Alicia Bradley]

Hmm... isn't St. Athanasius a Missouri Synod Lutheran church? (And the more traditional type, at that? As in, the pastor attended seminary in Fort Wayne, IN, and not St. Louis, MO?) I am NOT saying I have a problem with this - in fact, I was confirmed a Missouri Synod Lutheran. I like traditional stuff - e.g., that the pastor does private confession & absolution, the kneeling, the liturgy in Latin, ashes on the face on Ash Wednesday... My point is, they're semi-sort of borderline Catholic (*ducks* in case there are any MO Synod Lutherans in the room), in that they will (if you keep attending the church) expect you to take confirmation classes (and eventually a test on Luther's Small Catechism, of course), and possibly make a presentation to the congregation before you're confirmed. Basically, what I'm getting at is that, while fellowship is hugely important in a traditional Missouri Synod Lutheran Church, it's not, not, not its primary reason for existing. (Obviously, fellowship wouldn't be the main reason for any legitimate church's existing, but a lot of them *do* feel that way - particularly the rockin' half-fundie, half-pseudo-Unitarian 'mega' oddities that have been popping up all over the US lately.)

BTW, I'm a huge fan of introverts and traditional/tabletop RPGs. Not looking, though - just saying that not every young(ish) woman out there is a party bimbo who, like, hates geeks 'n' stuff, know what I mean?

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by betamanlet

Nice girls want bad boys.

They all want Don Draper.

[smokemaster]

enroll in nursing school.