Good argument well presented. Factually you are correct, but again as stated at the beginning this is just my interpretation and what works for me. I personally have never been laughed at when approaching a group. And even if they did, so what, you know? Fuck it, at least I did it. As long as you can brush it off and use that rejection as another opener it doesn't matter. But look, I'm not arguing, just saying this is what's helped and worked for me, so surely it's worth trying for you...