I've always been kind of intrigued by the concept. I split with hubby (long time coming) officially a couple months ago. I've been living in my own place for a while, and, though I'm not ready for anything serious, I think I'd like to start casually dating around a bit.
Soooo.....I just thought speed dating might be kind of fun, or at least a good story. I just signed up for an event that takes place tomorrow.
I wasn't nervous at all before I registered- but now I am! Has anyone else ever gone? What's some good advice?
One thing I've seen in some of the reviews (there are not a lot) is to think about the fact that you'll be sitting down all night and will need to find a place to stick your nametag, so be wary of too much cleavage. I think I'm going to dress pretty casually. Would love any advice or experiences.
I'll update after I go and let y'all know what it was like, if you're curious.
I personally haven't gone, but I like the idea because, unlike online dating, you're getting the "meeting in person" out of the way right away, and being able to check out the other person's vibe and energy and your chemistry together.
For me, I find it really hard to "chit chat" superficially, so I would probably think of a few good questions to break the ice. And make the questions less vague and more specific. So instead of "what do you like to do for fun" ask something specific like "do you like to snowboard?" (or whatever you are into).
Also think, you will be talking all night. Like a LOT of talking, more than you usually do in a day. Take some throat lozenges and make sure you have water.
I'm sure the first few people you have conversations with will be a little awkward, but it will get easier and time will fly and before you know it the night will be over and you will have met tons of people!
I went and it was not worth it for me. There were 20 dates, 5 minutes each. The women each sit at a table with a number on it and the men rotate to each table. It was a VERY long evening, and they did not give us a break at the halfway point.
Almost all of the guys were in IT or electrical/mechanical engineering. A lot of them had just moved to town (which made sense, I guess, trying to get out and meet people). I was not attracted to any of them, and I didn't have chemistry with any of them. Many of them were nice, but that was about it. There weren't even any people there I would have wanted to be friends with.
There were a few that made me feel like I was on a sitcom. One guy, who happened to be about two feet shorter than me, came up and started immediately telling me his IDEAS for fantasy novels. It was a very long five minutes. Another guy told me about all his many, many health problems. Another guy told me about how he lived in England for two years during high school (going to "the most expensive high school in the world", by the way), and now, 12 years later, he still "finds himself talking in a British accent." Ugh.
Mostly, though, it was just sad, lonely people looking for a date. Which is fine. I don't know what I expected, really. Ok, well, I expected one guy in 20 to be worth a second glance. Alas.
Marjorie, I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my entire life. thank you.
Also, shame on you for not taking those 5 minutes to improve those men for their next atrocious date by saying this:
"Stop telling people that. It's not attractive. You are never getting laid by saying that. No. No. Just no. Stop. Now lets sit in silence for the remaining 4 minutes and you can reflect on what you've done wrong before you weird out another lady."
Aww Marjorie, I'm sorry. I've done speed dating once before, but I didn't want to post about my experience until after you went because I didn't want to ruin your excitement.
My event was awful! The first guy that I chatted with bragged to me that he had dated a married woman (and he was very eager to share this). For two of the meeting time slots I didn't get to talk to anyone (more women than guys) and two of the guys were old enough to be my dad.
Going Speed Dating!?!?!!
