An awkward, shy young man asked one of his older,
more experienced friends how he was always so
successful with the ladies. "It's easy," said the friend.
"The trick is to get the conversation rolling. I always
start with one of three topics: family, food or philosophy.
Any girl in the world is bound to have something to say
on one of those subjects. And once you get her
talking it's easy from there!"
The next night the young man had a date, but in the first
5 minutes a complete silence had fallen over the table.
Finally, remembering his friend's advice, he cleared his
throat and began, "So, do you have a brother?"
His date replied briefly, "No."
That didn't go very well. She didn't offer any kind of follow up
information at all. Thinking maybe he would have better
luck with the second topic, he said, "Ummm...so, do you like Chinese
food?"
Again she replied just as before, "No."
Now he was desperate. The minutes ticked away while
the young man racked his brains. Finally he said, "Tell me,
IF you had a brother, would HE have liked Chinese
food?"