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Who’s doing it ? Why should you

At first the idea can seem horrifying……. Go and sit in a bar/café/etc. with a bunch of complete strangers, make small talk & a decision within 3 minutes on whether to meet these people again & if they are your potential partner for life?!!!!!  So is it just me who is intimidated by this idea?  Have we all gone stark staring raving mad?  It is not as though my friends would ever accuse me of being shy, quite to the contrary, but a girl does reach the stage where even she finds an idea daunting………

The more I looked into the idea; I was shocked by how difficult it is in our society to have a full time job / career and the time and energy to go ‘shopping’ for the other sex.  Most of us barely have time when we’ve finished work to eat and sleep let alone go and look for a prospective partner….. . Hey, & if you’re as cynical as me that could constitute a full time endeavour to find ‘the one’!  But even the most cynical can be wooed eventually, it requires people to take on board new ideas, and accept that in all honesty our own circle of friends is sometimes not enough of a linking factor to that ideal prospective partner. 

We’ve all been there after all, “Oh, you have to meet such & such”, “You’d get on so well”, “You have so much in common”, etc., etc...  I am sure you have turned up in the same way that I have, on that double dinner date, only to be confronted by Neanderthal man at his finest, grunts and all…… or your friends say she’s stunning, and you realize that this means; his girlfriend has set him up to this, and quite frankly she’s not your cup of tea.  Needless to say there never was that ‘spark’, that flush of young love, or the urge to set eyes on the offensive character / inappropriate match again.  Don’t get me wrong, I am willing to meet strangers but conversing is difficult when there isn’t the willingness from both sides. 

This is where speed dating comes into its own!  When you are at a speed dating event, the whole purpose of the evening is to define whether you potentially could/would last beyond those 3 minutes.  Trust me 3 minutes could be an eternity sitting opposite the wrong person…….!!  Imagine the scenario; you are in a club / bar, you catch sight of someone who is returning your glances, but when you finally edge towards each other, if there is no spark of conversation, you are stumped.  The initial thrill wears off, excuses are made, & that friend you’ve just got to go and see, is a rapidly approaching likelihood.

Most of the people who attend these events are young professionals and looking for an alternative means from the traditional dating ‘games’.  This is not to say that romance is yet dead, but here lies a realistic way to meet a lot of people in one go and reject the ones you don’t like without causing offence. 

N.B.

What is even better, is that the common preconceptions that first spring to mind about the people attending are generally misconceptions……….. Hurray!!!  Not only are the people that are these events not ‘freaks’, ’losers’, or ‘weirdo’s’, many are charming, intelligent, funny, good-looking, open-minded, & risk takers.  There is a lot of incentive to give it a try ………… and you’ll never know for sure if you don’t!

(Please bear in mind that there are exceptions to every rule, and some people are intent on bothering or upsetting others – this is one of the advantages of withheld contact details – the people that are like this are few and far between & end up missing out!)

What are the Odds of Success?

For many singles, who are tried of the bar scene and weary of blind dates, speed dating offers a fun and safe alternative to going online or placing personal ads. Speed dating has proven to be a fairly successful way of meeting a new partner and its proponents claim that more than half of the players in a game usually walk away with the phone number of a potential love match.

So like many things in life, your odds of meeting a mate through speed dating is about 50/50.  Only you can assess if you have had higher odds than that by meeting people online or at a bar.