First of all–Go. If you’ve never been speed dating, go. It is one of the most fun evenings I’ve had in London. If you are moving to a new city, do speed dating your first week. You will meet lots of interesting men for dating, but also (and just as important) women to be friends with. In fact, they should do speed dating for married couples to meet married couples to be friends with.
Advice #1: Don’t eat a samosa from the Pakistani store before you go speed dating. I was desperate and this was a mistake. About an hour in I started burping this garlic/chicken/fried food breath. That under a layer of red wine was hard to hide and not impressive. Not full on burps, not belchs, but burpettes–if you will. You know what I’m talking about. Eat bland food, but do eat.
Advice #2: Don’t get drunk. The woman next to me did not score too many points when she yelled out after three dates, “Come on, give us a break. I need another drink.” After the break she came back to the table with two glasses of wine and claimed to one date, “Oh no, this is lemonade.” Wine, soda, wine, soda.
Advice #3: Go alone. It’s okay, you can. It was like going to my first open mike in Chicago. Walking into a bar and knowing everyone is there for the same purpose–to date you. Eeek. Women go in large intimidating groups and men go alone. I scored bravery points for going alone and didn’t have to worry about my friends having dated the same men I had. Besides, you will make friends quickly–so why not make new friends instead of compete with your current friends for men.
As nervous as I was, it was a good feeling to be in a bar, look around and think to yourself, “I am going to meet all of these guys tonight. Every single one.” I would be lucky to chat up one or two guys in a night, okay one, so meeting 22 was astronomical. The men were all older, I think, and all professionals. There was a pilot, a surgeon, and lots of IT professionals. The women were also quite good looking, but no one was intimidating in their beauty and none of the men were too good looking to talk to. Not that there weren’t a lot of handsome men. Then at the same time, if a male model had walked in–you would have the same three minute date with him that you had with everyone else and a fair shot at liking or disliking him. Also–the women were generally tall–lots of tall women who wanted a tall man. I was the only one who said, “I don’t mind if he’s not taller than me.” No really, I don’t.
Of all the guys, only one was a creep and all the women thought he was a creep. Thinking about it, he might have been taking the mick–but he might have been a creep as well. He yelled at me for my choices of favorite movies, saying that “When Harry Met Sally,” was not even a good movie, let alone one of the all time best films.
My favorites were the three I got to talk to for longer. Ray–the scottish guy who had traveled a lot in the states and in south america. I met him before the event, so I’m worried he won’t “tick” me because I might have fallen into the catagory of his girlfriends who came with him. And I was making a comment afterwards about guys who go to the gym, forgetting that he goes to the gym. Robert–at the very end of the night, I found out that Robert is an avid swing dancer and jazz afficianando. If you are a swing dancer, mention that up front. I was impressed earlier when I found out he’d done some serious traveling. I talked to the guys a lot about travel, after they asked me about my accent. Finally David. We cheated. He was after a break, so we got like 5 or maybe 6 extra minutes. He had a good sense of humor and did not go into a coma when I started talking about the history of Tetris. Although his life closely resembles a Dilbert cartoon, I’d certainly hang out again.
Some guys had QUESTIONS to ask in rapid fire and others were nervous. Everyone feels quite silly, but at the same time it is a lot of fun. After the 22 dates, we sat around and gossiped about what guys said what and talked to other men. The guys gave us their reviews of the women and the event. Everyone agreed that Simon was quite nice and Sam was quite handsome. What about the brothers from Southhampton.
Later today I will get my instructions on making ticks and will find out if I have any matches. But, if you are ever wondering, “Should I or shouldn’t I?” You should and you should go now.
UPDATE: I am not exactly racking up the yes ticks or matches yet. And Ray, my fav scottish boy, didn’t tick me. Eeek. I am starting to think I must be more socially inept than I thought. Maybe it was my accent or admiting I just have one month left in the country. Ouch.
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