Sunday, February 11, 2007

One Night, Twelve Dates

Friday night two friends and I made our way to Guest House over on the west side for a night of speed dating. I was looking forward to it because it was something different, but I was also fairly cynical (at least by my standards.)

So I was pleasantly surprised that out of my twelve dates, only about three could be classified as "freaks," while the remaining nine were actually nice, normal, attractive people. Though one of my friends, (possibly jaded by his own speed dating experience,) continually reminded me, "They're all lying. Sure, sure he's a doctor...Next week you'll find out he's unemployed and lives with his parents...in New Jersey!"

I guess I'll just have to wait and see if my friend is correct. Till then, the highlights:

1) I can now say I went on a date with a man who has played at Carnegie Hall. Who cares if he was overly bitter about the 8-10 hours he spent in the conservatory every day for as long as he can remember? (And I'm not ashamed to admit I googled this one just to be sure he wasn't unemployed living with his parents in New Jersey.)

2) The worst opening line I have ever received was topped by a man who was 40 (clearly outside the age range advertised for the event,) who sat down and said, "So, tell me what you do besides be beautiful and have white teeth." I just barely stopped myself from gaping and entertained myself by counting to 360...the number of seconds remaining in this date. Finally, the men were told to rotate again, and the 40-year-old moved on to my friend, sat down, and said, "So, tell me what you do besides be beautiful and have white teeth."

3) I met at least four guys who really made me laugh. After the event when everyone was mingling and pretending we weren't shocked at the price of drinks, I found out that at least one of them had just been making up stories. I decided I wasn't interested in seeing him again, but he definitely won points for the imaginative story he told me about being kicked out of Catholic school in fourth grade.

4) My final date sat down and seemed nice enough at first. That is, until he started talking: "So, this is my twentieth time speed dating. I am on eharmony and chemistry.com. I just got out of an eleven-month relationship. I figure you have about a 1 in 1,000 chance in meeting someone you can fall in love with, so I might as well try to meet 1,000 people." I responded with some meaningless, shocked affirmative. Finally, they announced the end of the speed dating and encouraged us to get up and mingle. My very experienced speed dater said we didn't have to go anywhere since it was the last one, then proceeded to tell me all about how he wanted kids. Approximately two minutes later I got away from him as nicely as possible.

I ended the night with three potential real live dates. We'll see what happens. After nearly three years of dating in New York City, I'd say this actually ranked up there among my positive experiences. It was fun, relaxed, and better than trying to meet someone in a bar. I also didn't meet a single teacher. It felt good to reach outside of my social circle. I don't think I'll do it again anytime soon, but I would definitely recommend it for a little change in the dating routine.

1 comment:

Me said...

You really never know what's going to happen. Plus, I'm sure Jersey hides one or two people good for dating.