In his epic experiment George Costanza, assisted by Elaine Benes and Jerome Seinfeld, proved this point. While the three friends were having lunch at the diner Elaine noticed a beautiful woman at the counter glance at George. George normally would not have the guts to do anything about it so he was goaded into trying the opposite. He approached her and introduced himself adding the facts that he was unemployed and living with his parents. She replied in the sultriest of come-hither voices, “I’m Victoria, hi.”
Emboldened by George’s success, I tried the exact same lines approaching a woman at a local diner. Although I received a positive response, it turned out badly. I perhaps made an error in judgement by approaching the lady while out to lunch with Linda. She refused to accept the excuse that when an opportunity to advance science presents itself, one must act immediately.
Much like tortured artists, we scientists suffer for our craft!