What I don't get is the states where it's at a bar. I can understand how it's weird to talk to people in some of those other places but a bar is an explicitly social environment. If people didn't want to talk to others, they'd be drinking at home for far less money. As cliche as it is, "hey, can I buy you a drink" still works as an ice breaker.
'Missed connections' isn't just "made eyes but didn't speak", but also "spoke but didn't get to contact details". So in bars, perhaps a failure of persistence/crowds/group-dynamics rather than ice-breaking.
