Speed Dating 101
"He stared at other girls the whole time he was on our
date."
"She had the most piercing laugh I've ever heard. Everyone in
the restaurant stared, and I wanted to crawl under the table."
As many single people know, finding a quality date is often
comparable to finding a needle in a haystack.
Are you depressed because you can't meet anyone within your work
or school environment? Are you tired of answering personal ads
in the newspaper, fearing that the person you meet may really be
a crazed stalker or worse? Are you fed up chatting with someone
on the Internet for weeks, only to find out that in person, your
date has no teeth, a wife, and six children? Are you bored with
the harsh bar scene?
Finally, are you just plain sick of wondering why you can't meet
someone face-to-face with no pressure, and get to know them a
little before deciding to go on a date with them?
Now you can.
Allow me to introduce Speed Dating. For all of you depressed,
bored, tired, and fed up singles out there, Speed Dating is a
hot new trend unfolding in big cities as well as small towns all
over the world. Speed Dating has taken dating to a whole new
level - a simplified level.
Speed Dating was founded in 1999 by Los Angeles rabbi Yaacov
Deyo, who wanted to give Jewish men and women the opportunity to
quickly find potential mates. Since then, the fad has spread far
beyond Los Angeles and the Jewish community. Nowadays, you can
find Speed Dating just about anywhere. These events are often
held at restaurants, cafes and coffee houses. You can find
advertisements for them in your local newspaper, and even on
localized online Speed Dating websites. A Speed Dating session
usually costs about $25.
So how does this magical dating system work? It's easy. Put on
your sharpest clothes and your most sparkling smile. Then,
simply show up to a Speed Dating event. You will be given a name
tag, a score card, and ten seven-minute sessions to go on dates
with ten different people. It's like playing musical chairs...
with a little bit of flirting involved. In your seven minutes
with each other, you and your date are allowed to discuss
anything except your age, occupation, or place of residence.
This is done to allow you to get to know what the person you're
talking to is truly like on the inside.
After each seven minute session is up, a bell is rung and you
move on to your next date. Following each session, you and your
date mark on your score cards whether you would be interested in
meeting each other again. If you both mark each other on the
card, the speed dating organizers will provide the both of you
with each other's phone number at the end of the event.
The positive side to Speed Dating is that if you don't like the
person you are talking to, you don't have to worry about
spending an entire night with them. If the person has no teeth,
you only have to sit with them for 7 minutes. Of course, you
won't know if they are a crazed stalker, or if they have a wife
and six kids... but a first impression face-to-face will
hopefully give your intuition something to go on.
One downside to Speed Dating is that if you are a shy person,
and not very confident with making small talk with a stranger,
you might find the whole thing a bit stressful. A solution to
this is preparing some topics to discuss in advance of your
dating session. Making a great first impression in 7 minutes is
tough, but not impossible. The key to successful Speed Dating is
being yourself, having a sense of humor, and just having fun it.
No matter where you are from or what type of person you are, you
will encounter a room full of people, some who have the same
feelings about dating as you. And with Speed Dating, you may
just be able to find that right person in the nick of time.