Dear Mary | 25 April 2013

Q. Last week on a plane from Heathrow I sat next to a very attractive man. We started talking and I could tell he liked me too. Unfortunately, although we established that we both live in London, the flight was not quite long enough to warrant an exchange of telephone numbers. Unfortunately he lives in Highgate and I in Balham so I am unlikely to ever see him again. Mary, how could I have managed this better? I am not on Facebook.
—Name and address withheld

A. You could have said, ‘What’s that very good pub in Highgate called?’ When he replied, for example, ‘The King’s Arms?’ You would say, ‘Yes, that’s it. I have to go up to Highgate and collect a scarf I left there. They have been keeping it behind the counter for weeks. I really must incentivise myself to go all that way back to collect it….’ Thus you would programme him into finding himself offering an incentive such as, ‘Well, do text me when you are going and I will come and have a drink with you.’