Risk getting turned down.
That girl at the bar, any girl at the bar, might turn you down. The same goes for whenever you are asking anything of anyone. More often than not, we get turned down not because of us, but because of the individual that is rejecting our request.
It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to get someone’s number or asking them to pass you a napkin – you’ll always meet that jerk who will refuse to even pay you any attention. Because we hate being rejected – our damn egos at it again – we often fail to even ask.
If you don’t ask then you won’t be answered. If you don’t ask then you’re basically still getting answered no, but you yourself are moving any chance of receiving a yes.