How to ask a man out

In these modern times it is now acceptable for the women to ask out the men - if you think you are brave enough.
To be honest I still think it should be the job of the man to do the asking but I think that comes down to fear of rejection.
If they have asked you then at least you know they are interested.
But that being said this is the 21st century so why shouldn't women be allowed to ask.
Here is an article I found on msn.com that gives us women some tips on how to pluck up the courage and ask that important question.

How To Ask A Man Out by Bob Strauss

There’s no easy way to phrase this without provoking a barrage of “What are you, crazy?” emails, but here’s my theory: By the time she hits 20, even the shyest, mousiest, most un-Katie-Holmes like waif has developed at least a basic strategy for fending off (or responding to) unsolicited come-ons by eager men.
But unless a bloke happens to look like Colin Farrell, he can persist well into his 40’s without once having been — flatly, out of the blue — asked out on a date, (after that, the odds tend to shift, as those handsome, hard-driving captain-of-industry types die off or get married, resulting in a surplus of on-the-prowl single women. Have I offended anyone yet?)
Anyway, whatever the explanation, the fact is that single women are more accustomed to being asked out, and single men are more accustomed to doing the asking—which means there’s not a lot of data out there about how men like to be approached for a first date.
With an eye toward correcting this imbalance, here are my observations about the best way to hit on a bloke, whether it’s someone you work with, someone you’ve met online, or someone you’ve just bumped into the back of at a busy intersection.

Be direct - Men are complete idiots (being a man myself, I mean this in the nicest possible way). In your own mind, you may think you’re being absolutely, unmistakably clear about your intentions when you ask that adorable bloke in the next cubicle if he’d like to grab some Thai takeout for lunch, whereas he’s probably thinking something like “Thai... cool. I’m hungry.”
Ask a man out the way he’d ask you out, “Would you like to have dinner tonight?” is fairly hard to misinterpret, and “Would you like to come over to my place tonight and I’ll cook you dinner?” is even harder to misinterpret (though don’t put it past him to think something like, “Wow, that’s nice of her. She must have some salmon that’s about to spoil.”)

Be indirect - Well, OK, here’s another approach to try, remember how, back in primary school, you’d ask your mate to ask her sister if that fit boy in her class was seeing anyone?
This technique works well in adult life, too, the fact is, most guys were deeply unpopular in primary school and will be flattered to have your friends do some advance scouting (just make sure your messenger isn’t on the market herself, lest you wind up creating some form of love triangle).
Really, there are worse things than having a friend go fishing on your behalf with a, “Hey, are you seeing anyone now...? I know someone who thinks you’re fit...”
Note to guys: Based on my experience, this approach doesn’t work with grown-up women, who’d rather you did your own legwork.

Come up with a plan - Choose between the following two conversations.
Conversation A: You, to that fit guy in the gym: “Um, do you think you’d... maybe like to... go out sometime?” Fit guy in the gym, to you: “Um... yeah... maybe we can do something... sometime.” Conversation B: You, to that hot bar tender in your local pub: “Hey, The Feeling is doing a gig tonight at that new bar in the town centre. Would you like to go?” Hot bar tender, to you: “Sounds good!”
Get the point?

Don’t come on too strong - I’ll spare you the Freudian mumbo-jumbo about how, deep down, men are actually scared of women, and their subconscious minds will transform an ostensibly breezy come-on (“Alright mate! How about I treat you to a beer and a kebab?”) into a screaming nightmare about some woman in a caftan chasing them with a pair of oversized scissors.
It’s unfair, I agree, but the way society is set up, men are much better able to get away with confident-bordering-on-arrogant bluster than women are.
Be nice; use a gentle voice; smile.
Approach the object of your desire as you would a timid bunny rabbit.

Don’t over-plan - It’s only in TV Sitcoms that men hire skywriters and three-piece mariachi bands to announce their interest in sexy, yet clueless, flatmates.
So don’t feel you should follow that tradition.
Red Arrow flybys may be out of your price range, but even a gimmick as innocent-seeming as a homemade chocolate muffin accompanied by a written invitation is overdoing it... and may set off a man’s Fatal Attraction radar.
And you don’t have to invite the man out for much more than some liquid refreshment.
Just ask, plain and simple, the same way you’d ask for directions to the ladies’ room.
“Would you like to have a cup of coffee/get a drink sometime?” will work just fine.
Frankly, most of us are so flattered that you’d request our company that we’re delighted to oblige.

So if you are feeling brave and don't seem to be getting any signals from that guy that you like, why not give this new approach a go?
It might just be what you need.