Valentine's Day: Will Cards for Smiles help you approach a stranger you fancy?

The new dating service is as a sort of hybrid of Moonpig and an online dating site

It's Valentine's Day tomorrow so it seems fitting to talk about the act of approaching a stranger you fancy. It also happens that a new dating service is launching to address this.

Cards for Smiles is as a sort of hybrid of Moonpig and an online dating site. The idea is that you buy a set of cards from the site and then, when you're out and spot somebody you fancy, you give them said card (containing imaginative messages such as "You look fabulous") and they can then type your "unique smile tracking code", found on the back of the card, into the website. And then… hey presto!

Maybe I'm missing the point here but why would you meet someone in real life and then walk away and ask them to look you up online? It's arse about face. Also, "find me online" isn't exactly coquettish. It's just giving someone ANOTHER JOB TO DO. Like you're making them your own personal romance intern.

I mentioned this to the boyfriend who, being a man of no-nonsense, scoffed at the idea that the act of approaching somebody in real life should be so alien. I love seeing him of a morning, in his pants, ranting about how the world's gone mad.

"You don't have to do a magic routine and a pirouette," he said. "It ain't Take Me Out where you have to come in all-dancing. The reality is, if you give somebody a compliment and that person is nice, then you can strike up a conversation."

Apparently, complimenting a woman on her shoes has served him well in the past. But basically, if you are getting some kind of vibe – "You wouldn't go over to someone who hadn't clocked you anyway" – then why not say hi? It's a more natural than slipping them a weird card and inviting them to stalk you online.

I'm also into my friend's suggestion: "Send them a drink. It's such a cool thing to do, especially coming from the girl". Drink trumps card any day.

@lovefoolforever