Dating in the City

I thought I’d start 2012 by doing something really new, so I went speed dating (perhaps subconsciously inspired by Hitch). I’ve begun to notice a pattern with dating: in smaller cities, I get asked out more, even by strangers I run into on the street. In bigger cities, the fish aren’t biting. And in the church, there is a crisis. I much prefer to meet people face-to-face, rather than date online, so speed dating was the next best thing to being asked out by someone in my circles.

The only information I had about the evening was that I should expect to have 12 dates in the 2-hour period. Not bad for one who hasn’t been on a formal date in years. I arrived at the midtown lounge with a good friend, whom I’d convinced to join me on this adventure. We signed in and were directed to our seats, based on numbers that were assigned to us. I had expected more fun and games at the event–more structure–but the 5-minute dates were free-form.

My dates ranged from highly entertaining men (some with the help of mind-altering drinks) and decent conversationalists, to socially awkward ones. The 5-minute slots seemed alternately too short, just right or never-ending. Right off the bat, most men wanted to talk about work. Once that was out of the way, I’d steer the conversation to my favorite question of the night: What do you do for fun? Invariably, those who were stumped by the question were the ones who made the 5-minute date seem like an eternity. No life outside of work = No date!

One of my dates pontificated about the Greeks and their varied expressions of love for our entire 5 minute-slot. Greek lesson? No, thank you. Running one’s mouth is no way to pique a woman’s interest. I might have told him that, had he let me get a word in edgewise. Two men made me laugh so hard with their ridiculous stories about daily life, that when the bell rang and our time was up, we felt like we had just begun. I’m so glad one of them was my final date for the night. It was a good way to go out.

Although I’d actually expected that more fun activities would be incorporated into the evening, I enjoyed the evening and would do it again. Now I’m trying to come up with a modified version of speed dating to add to my Bringing Sexy Back repertoire, the relationship seminars I have hosted since 2010. See, I’m bothered enough by the scarcity of romantic relationships among my peers to do something about it. For the most part, I think today’s young adults don’t know how to do relationships.

What do you think?

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