Is Speed Dating Worth Trying?

Speed dating was never considered a viable option for meeting a guy. I mean come on, how realistic is it to connect with a stranger in 5 minutes and then we go on to be happily ever after?

Plus, every time I thought of speed dating, I thought of that scene in Hitch where the desperate looking woman stands up yelling that she was doing speed dating because she hadn’t had sex in over a year. I didn’t want to be that woman. And I didn’t want people to even hint at the fact that I was so desperate that I finally resorted to speed dating. Yet, here I was in this lounge closed for a night of speed dating. What in the world had I gotten myself into this time?

When my friend initially approached me to join her at this speed dating event hosted by DateSwitch, my immediate reaction was to politely decline. However, I wanted to be supportive and my phone still wasn’t ringing off the hook with suitors dying to date me. After some thought, I reluctantly agreed to go and went online to sign up.

What my friend cleverly neglected to tell me was that this night of speed dating was about to cost me $45. Yes, I was putting a price tag on love and that seemed awfully high. I quickly got over the price as I was more appalled by the 40-55 age range. Granted, it’s not like I’m 25 anymore, but I didn’t want to date my dad’s college roommate either. Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it is getting into the age range where you have to question if a guy needs Viagra. I am not ready to question if my partner needs “help.”

Interestingly, when I told other friends about the age range no one seemed to see this as an issue. They all preferred older men as they thought they were financially stable and mature. I wasn’t buying the fairytale.

I did still go dressed to impress and with a positive attitude (well as positive as one who doesn’t date 55 year old men or those who need Viagra could be). When we walked in, I saw what was my fear. The men were not cute and the women looked hella frumpy. The looks the women gave when we walked in also said they weren’t too happy we were there either, so I guess the feeling was mutual.

Whatever, I was in the mood to make it a fun night so of course that meant flirting with the bartender. Heck, he was the best looking one in the building and he had control over the bourbon. I saw it as a win-win situation.

After grabbing my drink, I settled into my seat with instructions in hand. The women would stay seated and the men would rotate every five minutes. If I liked the guy I was instructed to circle yes and keep notes on each date for later. If we both liked each other, DateSwitch would let us know it was a match. Let’s just say I never touched that paper, as I already knew my answer. I also had decided to tell everyone I had dropped out of med school to pursue my passion for knitting sweaters.

Shockingly, no one questioned my career path and some even complimented me on following my dreams (go figure). I met one guy who had done speed dating 21 times and had even gone on a few dates with one of the other women. Another kept telling me how he loved my hair and that he had met a woman in Harlem that was exotic and had hair and lips like mine. I wanted to ask if he meant she was African-American by the 5th time I heard the word exotic, but then time was thankfully up. At one point I had a Charlie Brown moment where this guy was so boring I literally zoned only to come back to him still talking about how he turns down his tenants’ hot water temperature at night. There was one guy I thought had a chance and he was my last date of the night. That was until he started passing gas and then that was a wrap of a night of hell nahs.

I didn’t connect with any of my dates, but the experience did change my mind about speed dating. I actually think speed dating is a great idea if it is the right age range and you have a good mix of people. I will also give DateSwitch credit for charging as much as they do. If you’re going to invest the time to do 20+ dates in one night, you want someone who is serious enough to invest in the experience.

I could have taken the experience a little bit more serious, but I knew none of these dates were right for me. I did however manage to steal the bartenders phone to leave a picture of my number written on a napkin, so maybe there is still hope after all. If not, I do plan to try speed dating again.