Speed dating sounds like the lamest way ever to meet a date, but I've been single for two years so I will leave no rock unturned. In the age of internet dating, when I meet a man in person and know within ten seconds that I'm not attracted to him yet have to feign polite interest through a round of drinks, the efficiency of meeting twenty men for five minutes each has an appeal.
I had very, very low expectations for the evening, and as we rotated through our speed dates my apprehensions were met.
"I work at Microsoft."
"I'm an engineer at Boeing."
"I'm a project manager for Amazon."
And on and on and on.
Fortunately, I had anticipated this situation, so I came prepared! Fucking shoot me if I had to sit through two hours of geeks talk about their jobs and lives in Woodinville. I made my own icebreaker questions:
"If you could commit a crime and get away with it, what would you do?"
"Bank robbery," said every man, except for one who said "casino robbery." He got extra points for creativity. My answer? Human trafficking. (Anthropology major in me: Let's help our fellow humans find a better life in America!)
"If you could go back in time to any year of your life, what year would it be and why?"
Best answer: "I would go back to age 15 and would study harder so I could get into Harvard and be more successful." Oh dear God.
"If you won 100 million dollars, what would you do with it?"
-"I'd invest it and make more money." I had zero interest in dating him, but would he like to be my financial advisor?
And so the evening went. I became increasingly exhausted meeting single man after single man, trying to string together coherent conversations. Then a man rotated to the seat in front of me who piqued my interest.
I could tell from his name that he was Israeli. "Are you Jewish?" Yes. "Me too!" He was attractive with a nice smile, and when he told me his job I heard the word "environmental" and was sold. I don't remember the other words that followed, but we only had five minutes on our date and I had to make a snap judgment. Cute, interesting, possibly outdoorsy, definitely Jewish... Out of the twenty men I met that night, he was the only name I wrote down on a piece of paper to hand back to the speed dating host.
And of course, as fate would have it, my single friend who accompanied me to speed dating wrote down his name as well. We decided all's fair in love and war, and if necessary we'd have a threesome.
The way speed dating works, for those unfamiliar, is if two people write down each other's names, it's a mutual match. The hosts send you an email later with contact information of the person you matched with, and you take it from there.
"Did he feel a connection too?" is the big question that loomed over my mind for the next day. "I thought he liked me, but maybe he's just nice to everyone." I like to think that I'm good at reading men and figuring out when there is interest, but you never know.
Two days later I received an email from the speed dating host. "Fabulous news! I have a mutual date-mate match for you!" It had his contact information. My friend came up empty.
I had very, very low expectations for the evening, and as we rotated through our speed dates my apprehensions were met.
"I work at Microsoft."
"I'm an engineer at Boeing."
"I'm a project manager for Amazon."
And on and on and on.
Fortunately, I had anticipated this situation, so I came prepared! Fucking shoot me if I had to sit through two hours of geeks talk about their jobs and lives in Woodinville. I made my own icebreaker questions:
"If you could commit a crime and get away with it, what would you do?"
"Bank robbery," said every man, except for one who said "casino robbery." He got extra points for creativity. My answer? Human trafficking. (Anthropology major in me: Let's help our fellow humans find a better life in America!)
"If you could go back in time to any year of your life, what year would it be and why?"
Best answer: "I would go back to age 15 and would study harder so I could get into Harvard and be more successful." Oh dear God.
"If you won 100 million dollars, what would you do with it?"
-"I'd invest it and make more money." I had zero interest in dating him, but would he like to be my financial advisor?
And so the evening went. I became increasingly exhausted meeting single man after single man, trying to string together coherent conversations. Then a man rotated to the seat in front of me who piqued my interest.
I could tell from his name that he was Israeli. "Are you Jewish?" Yes. "Me too!" He was attractive with a nice smile, and when he told me his job I heard the word "environmental" and was sold. I don't remember the other words that followed, but we only had five minutes on our date and I had to make a snap judgment. Cute, interesting, possibly outdoorsy, definitely Jewish... Out of the twenty men I met that night, he was the only name I wrote down on a piece of paper to hand back to the speed dating host.
And of course, as fate would have it, my single friend who accompanied me to speed dating wrote down his name as well. We decided all's fair in love and war, and if necessary we'd have a threesome.
The way speed dating works, for those unfamiliar, is if two people write down each other's names, it's a mutual match. The hosts send you an email later with contact information of the person you matched with, and you take it from there.
"Did he feel a connection too?" is the big question that loomed over my mind for the next day. "I thought he liked me, but maybe he's just nice to everyone." I like to think that I'm good at reading men and figuring out when there is interest, but you never know.
Two days later I received an email from the speed dating host. "Fabulous news! I have a mutual date-mate match for you!" It had his contact information. My friend came up empty.
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