So I was late arriving at the Speed Dating event. My mother is about to visit my brother in Hawaii and was blathering on to me about it while I struggled with my shoes (I have a love-hate relationship with these particular shoes - the hate part is due to the buckles taking 20 minutes to do up). But I have to say I was relieved to be late. It meant that I didn't have to sit there like an idiot at the bar with no one to talk to since I went alone. Yes! I went alone!!!
I was informed that two women had already left due to the low numbers that had turned out - particularly men. And I learned later that another got up and left after complaining to one of the men that the "talent" was very poor and she had met half of them at a previous Speeddating event. While I could understand her reasons for leaving, I didn't think much of her sharing it with one of those guys she considered were "without talent".
I strolled in confidently finding the whole scene most entertaining. It has to be said that for a mother of a young child, a night out doing anything is exciting no matter what it is.
OK, I was a little nervous but it didn't last long. As the bell sounded, my first "date" arrived and immediately I knew it was a waste of time. He was from Iran, middle-aged and all I remember about him was that the time dragged on and on and I thought that 5 minutes would never end. I asked him as many questions as I could to fill the empty space.
There was one guy amongst the 10 or 12 I met who carried a notebook with him in case he ever got stuck for questions or to write notes so he could give you careful consideration later. One of his questions was, "what was the last book you read?" I tried to explain that I was hooked on a Marian Keyes run of novels from my local 2nd hand bookstore but he likened them to Mills and Boon (apparently the term "Chicklit" was lost on him and 'Romance Novels' only came in the Mills and Boon form). This made me feel suitably put out since the last time I read a Mills and Boon was on a dull day at work at the oldies' Retirement Village and although Marian Keyes couldn't be described as "serious reading" I'd like to think of myself as intelligent enough to discern a good author/read from a bad one. Danielle Steel, for example, does nothing for me. In fact, I find myself hoping something terrible happens to the main heroine in the hope that the story might improve.
Another guy that stands out in my memory introduced himself as someone who worked at the Warehouse, and who usually wouldn't be out at this time but working a shift. He kept watching his clock and indicated that he needed to go soon - something to do with his mother expecting him home.
And yet another was a short, obnoxious loud mouth, dressed so scruffily he looked like he'd just walked off a building site. I remember he either had extremely stained teeth or missing teeth or maybe both. He actually had the cheek to point out other men in the room and put them down. It was very uncomfortable and since I'd already had a few brief conversations with him (because he was the sort of person who forced you to) prior to officially meeting him at my table, I was dreading my five minutes with him and was very happy to see the back end of it (the five minutes that is - believe me, I had no interest in seeing his back end at all)...
Overall, the woman who left deeply unimpressed by the talent was quite right. At some point into the night, I found myself considering men who I would never normally consider, and then ticking the "yes" box simply because otherwise I would walk away with not one date and it all seemed such a waste of money. The most attractive man there (who seemed very cocky in actual fact but at least halfway normal) was only a few inches taller than myself. And I am 5'3". There were a couple of other older professional men who I also ticked yes to simply because we had a good conversation not because there was any connection, chemistry or attraction. I think I ticked around 3 yes boxes but only one of those had ticked yes for me - can you imagine how that felt! But as it was, the man I was "matched with" never contacted me nor I him - and I'm relieved. In hindsight I didn't want to spend time with any of those guys. None of them seemed right for me.
I know how I sound right now - a bit too cool for school, and as my dear "ex-friend" would say - I'm not "all that"! (bitch).. But I was kind and respectful to those men and honestly thought many of them were lovely - they were just not right for me. Later on, I joined a group of women and there was one woman in particular who was keen to bag the lot of them and I found myself defending Mr. Notebook (bald, middle-aged, glasses -not my type, but he was a nice guy if a little peculiar - and I don't like to hear nice guys being scorned like that!) But we could all relate to the Iranian being "the longest 5 minutes we'd ever spent".
So that was my Speeddating experience which I intend to never repeat.
I was informed that two women had already left due to the low numbers that had turned out - particularly men. And I learned later that another got up and left after complaining to one of the men that the "talent" was very poor and she had met half of them at a previous Speeddating event. While I could understand her reasons for leaving, I didn't think much of her sharing it with one of those guys she considered were "without talent".
I strolled in confidently finding the whole scene most entertaining. It has to be said that for a mother of a young child, a night out doing anything is exciting no matter what it is.
OK, I was a little nervous but it didn't last long. As the bell sounded, my first "date" arrived and immediately I knew it was a waste of time. He was from Iran, middle-aged and all I remember about him was that the time dragged on and on and I thought that 5 minutes would never end. I asked him as many questions as I could to fill the empty space.
There was one guy amongst the 10 or 12 I met who carried a notebook with him in case he ever got stuck for questions or to write notes so he could give you careful consideration later. One of his questions was, "what was the last book you read?" I tried to explain that I was hooked on a Marian Keyes run of novels from my local 2nd hand bookstore but he likened them to Mills and Boon (apparently the term "Chicklit" was lost on him and 'Romance Novels' only came in the Mills and Boon form). This made me feel suitably put out since the last time I read a Mills and Boon was on a dull day at work at the oldies' Retirement Village and although Marian Keyes couldn't be described as "serious reading" I'd like to think of myself as intelligent enough to discern a good author/read from a bad one. Danielle Steel, for example, does nothing for me. In fact, I find myself hoping something terrible happens to the main heroine in the hope that the story might improve.
Another guy that stands out in my memory introduced himself as someone who worked at the Warehouse, and who usually wouldn't be out at this time but working a shift. He kept watching his clock and indicated that he needed to go soon - something to do with his mother expecting him home.
And yet another was a short, obnoxious loud mouth, dressed so scruffily he looked like he'd just walked off a building site. I remember he either had extremely stained teeth or missing teeth or maybe both. He actually had the cheek to point out other men in the room and put them down. It was very uncomfortable and since I'd already had a few brief conversations with him (because he was the sort of person who forced you to) prior to officially meeting him at my table, I was dreading my five minutes with him and was very happy to see the back end of it (the five minutes that is - believe me, I had no interest in seeing his back end at all)...
Overall, the woman who left deeply unimpressed by the talent was quite right. At some point into the night, I found myself considering men who I would never normally consider, and then ticking the "yes" box simply because otherwise I would walk away with not one date and it all seemed such a waste of money. The most attractive man there (who seemed very cocky in actual fact but at least halfway normal) was only a few inches taller than myself. And I am 5'3". There were a couple of other older professional men who I also ticked yes to simply because we had a good conversation not because there was any connection, chemistry or attraction. I think I ticked around 3 yes boxes but only one of those had ticked yes for me - can you imagine how that felt! But as it was, the man I was "matched with" never contacted me nor I him - and I'm relieved. In hindsight I didn't want to spend time with any of those guys. None of them seemed right for me.
I know how I sound right now - a bit too cool for school, and as my dear "ex-friend" would say - I'm not "all that"! (bitch).. But I was kind and respectful to those men and honestly thought many of them were lovely - they were just not right for me. Later on, I joined a group of women and there was one woman in particular who was keen to bag the lot of them and I found myself defending Mr. Notebook (bald, middle-aged, glasses -not my type, but he was a nice guy if a little peculiar - and I don't like to hear nice guys being scorned like that!) But we could all relate to the Iranian being "the longest 5 minutes we'd ever spent".
So that was my Speeddating experience which I intend to never repeat.
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