Speed Dating

If I had a list of things to do before I was 30, Speed Dating would probably feature. So when the opportunity arose for me to experience this slightly random phenomenon for the first time I took it. It was for charity (RAG), and I currently have no better half who could complain about an evening spent meeting random women - so really, there was no excuse.

For those of you who are somehow oblivious, the concept of Speed Dating is quite simple. You get a short period of time with each member of the opposite sex and at the end of it you indicate on a form whether you would like to see them again. If both parties would like to meet again, numbers get swapped.

The RAG Speed Date on Tuesday was at Merton’s Bar and everyone was given a sticker with a B (‘boy’) or G (‘girl’) and a number. The time per ‘date’ was three minutes and when a horn sounded the guys had to move on to the next girl on their list.

You may recall that Speed Dating featured in the Vicar of Dibley last Christmas. Like Owen I could have adopted a ‘cool’ name such as Brad and tried far too hard to appear sexy, but fortunately I didn’t. I just went as myself, aiming to have a bit of a laugh and enjoy the experience.

And how did I get on? I think the best way of summing it up would be ‘Freshers’ Week all over again’. Those of you who have been a Fresher in a random bar and spent an evening meeting random people, repeating your name, college and subject to each one will know what I mean. At least I didn’t get asked what A’levels I did this time...

Most of the girls I met seemed to be there for the same reason as I was – namely that they felt it’d be fun to try Speed Dating once in their life and this was a good opportunity. In most cases the three minutes passed quite quickly and the conversation could easily have flowed on. More than once the horn went, rather infuriatingly, in the middle of some interesting chat. I had a couple of awkward pauses but nothing too bad - one of the girls told me that her previous ‘date’ had provided her with the longest three minutes of her life. I think the most random moment was being asked what ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’ meant. Having attempted - rather badly I think - to give an answer it dawned on me to ask why I had been asked such a question in the first place. I was duly informed that ‘without such random questions it would get awfully boring and repetitive’. Quite.

Did I find love? In a word, no. It wasn’t that there was a lack of attractive girls – far from it – but that, as I expected, it wasn’t that kind of evening. Time will tell whether I see any of the people I met again though. I gave quite a few positive ticks because I’m too nice to be heartless and aside from a few who annoyed me I found everyone very friendly. Whether I got any positive ticks in return remains to be seen as RAG haven’t followed it up yet. Chatting to others revealed that on the whole the guys were much more positive than the girls, but let’s not dwell on what that might say about those that took part.

Would I do it again? Again, no. I’ve had the experience – and am all the better for it – but can’t see why I’d want to do it again. I’ve never needed to resort to Speed Dating to introduce myself to new people in the past and I hope that that won’t change.

Back in the real world I’ve spent the afternoon investigating the option of further study beyond my degree and loving the hot weather. I have had a productive week and have accumulated a lot to blog about, but that can wait for my next post.

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