Speed Dating: The best way to avoid 10 bad relationships in one night!
As promised, I attended my first speed dating event the other day. The way it all works is that everyone sits down at a table with a "date." Each person talks to their respective date for 3 minutes and then marks down a 'yes' or 'no' on a scorecard as to whether or not they would like to see that person again. If both people pick 'yes,' then the company provides contact information to both parties. The event was held in a bar and, while there were quite a few attractive women around the bar, none of them seemed to be signing in for the event. I knew at least a third of the guys there, including TheRoommate, so we, of course, lamented this fact every chance we got.
Before things got started, we grabbed a few drinks to help lubricate the situation; which is to say, I drank enough to make the night tolerable without lowering my sense of judgment too much such that I might actually end up checking "yes" to a date with Chewbacca's sister by accident.
As feared, when the event started there were not too many attractive girls in attendance; dare I say, none. Rather than write the evening off as a whole, I decided I might as well exploit it for its comedic value. As I snaked my way through the room one three-minute date at a time, I started contemplating the choice of venue for this event; I think most of the girls would have been much more at home at a Home Town Buffet.
Like I said, I did try to make the most of the situation; here are some of the gems I laid out that night: (RG = Random Girl; DF = Dating Fool)
RG: "Have you done this before?"
DF: "No, it's my first time. My parole officer thought it would be a good idea."
RG: "What do you do?"
DF: "I run an internet site."
RG: "Really? What is it?"
DF: "It's a site featuring overweight, transsexual, midget porn. It's a niche market, really. So, what do you do?"
RG: {Blank look of fear}
RG: "What do you do?"
DF: "I work over at [local bowling alley]. I deodorize the shoes when people return them. I'm trying to work my way up to pinsetter though; it's just a dream right now."
RG: "Oh my god! That's great! I'm going there for my birthday; I'll totally look for you!"
DF: {Blank look of fear}
It was also interesting to note the way age played a role in the way that various women approached the situation. The age range for the event was something like, 24-32. I knew immediately when I sat down with the older women because their questions were along the lines of, "do you smoke," "do you drink," "how's your health insurance?" Ok, I never got that one, but I think if it had been 8 minute dating, we would have gotten around to it. Their questions were definitely geared more towards a serious relationship than dating.
By the end of the night, I marked up my scorecard and put a couple of yeses next to the least offensive specimens. TheRoommate and I hung around the bar for a bit afterwards. We were having a beer when a group of four girls (including the two I'd marked down on my scorecard) came over and asked if we wanted to join them. Speeddater1 was friendly and I though she might be interested in me. Speeddater2 (the more attractive of the two), on the other hand, seemed to take a real liking to TheRoommate. I wasn't too interested in any of them at that point, but I figured I would do my best to wingman TheRoommate as best I could in hopes of helping him hook up with Speeddater2.
The rest of the night went well and by the end I thought TheRoommate had a very legitimate chance with Speeddater2. I've since encouraged him to pursue her and I believe they are going out some time next week. As for me, since I had so few matches, the company offered for me to come to the next event free of charge. Hopefully, it will be better attended next time.
