Relationships

I Tried Sliding Into A Guy's DMs And I Have No Regrets

by Tyler Mitchell
Alexey Kuzma

Not every story is a success story.

It was a Sunday afternoon in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The air was semi-fresh, and I probably consumed most of it due to huge inhales caused by so much laughter.

I was having the most amazing time out with my friends. There was so much happening on this particular Sunday. (It was during fashion week, so there were plenty of shows and events to attend.)

I just left from hanging out with some of my girls at Refinery29's 29 Rooms, which was an unforgettable experience on its own. Once inside the venue, there were 29 rooms of interactive art installations to enjoy. Refinery29 best described it as “An adult fun-house" — it was an accurate description.

Tyler Mitchell

After I was done getting my big kid on, I was with another group of friends waiting on the doors to open at the Ludlow House for the screening of "The Print Shop," a short film my friend, Christian Nolan Jones, directed.

While I was chatting, I noticed a fine specimen looking at me from across the street and we made eye contact for quite some time. However, most of my friends happen to be men, so maybe he was hesitant to walk over. In this instance, I should've walked over to him, but I didn't.

Sadie Hawkins didn't wait for a dance, so why should you wait for a message from a guy you're into?

A week or so rolled by, and I was scrolling through my acquaintances' liked posts like I normally do. I clicked on a photo, and felt a real-life face swap with the heart-eyed emoji occur. It was him. “What should I do?” I asked myself. “Shoot him a message?”

Yo Gotti's “Down in the DM” played softly in my cerebral cortex as my thumbs worked diligently to type up what I wanted to say. Trying to be classy, yet make my presence be known, I wrote a message complimenting the gentleman for what he does in his field (because his passion is reflected in his posts).

In the DM, I also mentioned how I saw him outside of Ludlow House. I was trying to connect the dots for him.

Since we weren't following each other, the message patiently waited in the message request inbox for a little over a week. In the meantime, I went over to his page and noticed he posted a picture of himself at dinner with a girl. The photo didn't appear to be super romantic, but still it raised my eyebrow.

Girlfriend? Not Sure. Friend? Absolutely. Uncertain about the relation, his post made me reconsider my message, so I deleted it.

However, I guess I didn't delete the DM properly (you must click “unsend”!) because this week, he responded to my message. He pretty much just said thank you for the compliment and left it at that.

Us women make fun of men all of the time for constantly sliding into our DMs, but it takes courage.

I felt curved like San Francisco's Lombard Street, but I charged it to the game.

Although this was no love story, don't ever be afraid to go after what you want. Sadie Hawkins didn't wait for a dance, so why should you wait for a message from the guy you're into?

Us women make fun of men all of the time for constantly sliding into our DMs, but it takes courage. Don't be afraid of rejection because it's simply a part of life everyone goes through.

Yeah, it may leave you feeling a bit uneasy, but you'll get over it after feasting your eyes on a new catch.

So, the next time you see a guy you want to talk to, put your pride aside and go for it. After all, you have nothing to lose.

This post was originally published on the author's personal blog.