I hate when dudes I haven’t spoken to in ages IM me, engage in 10 minutes of small talk, then ask for a favor. At the very least, don’t patronize me by wasting my time asking about my job and dogs. Just cut to the chase and say “hey, I know I haven’t spoken to you in a while, but I could really use your help with this.” Acknowledging the fact that the only reason you gave me a second thought was to bug me for help, at the very least, wins honesty points. Pretending like I’m stupid enough to be tricked into thinking this is a friendly conversation that just happened to veer onto the topic of your broken computer or need for airport car service? That’s a fast track on my “block” list.