After going through my entire mini-library of books, I found Robert B. Cialdini\’s Influence hidden underneath dusty papers and notebooks. I had forgotten what a great bok this is. Of course, the memory of receiving it wasn\’t very…memorable. It was from a former potential who just…didn\’t…get…me. I told him that reading books was cool (along with a million other things I like to do) and he took that fact as a bookworm. But hey, the thought counts. He gave that book to me along with a hastily written card for Valentine\’s Day (note: i have always disliked letters that say i don\’t know what else to say here – LOOK SO MUCH BLANK SPACE. I digress.

The book is awesome. It is more of a scientifally based version of Dale Carnegie\’s How to Make Friends and Influence People (which I also was blindly recommended by another former interest.) I remember carrying that around during my freshman year during my struggle to meet people. What irony.

But I digress. Again.

Reading the book reminds me how often I fall prey to salesperson\’s techniques. During my sophomore year, I accidentally signed up for SF Chronicle newspaper – a free trial for a month. Despite knowing that I wouldn\’t be able to have that much time to read it every day. I found myself rationalizing it. And other incidents where I have just been, as Cialdini describes it, a patsy.

So making sure that I don\’t rely on my automatism (does anyone ever notice how I sometimes say good and you? even if I already asked you how are you?), I would like to tell people some of their tactics. In one instance (fully described here), I am accosted by a member of a campus bible fellowship known for their strong evangelical tactics. I attack back by slightly debating and dragging him for two blocks down Telegraph.