Thanks for the feedback friends.
Dealing with my failures (this word doesn't trouble me in the least) is part of it too. While continuing to read my journals I've discovered that I was able to make virtually no headway at all with about 10 people. With some, I tried so many different approaches that it bordered on the ludicrous. Here's one suggestion that has seemed to work consistently for the last 5 years.
Some people are EXTREMELY visual. If they can't see what they're doing immediately in front of them, it gets frustrating and they are likely to quit. I tune their guitar to an open D (DADF#AD), get them to lay it on their lap, and use "two finger" "4" and "5" chords. This approach has managed to bring a number of folks back from the brink of "screw this, I'll never learn!" Just getting them to strum "Skip to My Lou" with "D" and "A" gets them playing.
Rick