What are the basics of dating? You meet, you determine if there’s a connection and then think about when you’ll see each other again. Usually dates can last anywhere from one hour to one day depending on how well or badly it goes. But imagine speeding up that process to just three minutes? And not only that, but dating one person after the other, boom boom BOOM, 17 people in three-minute intervals. Let me tell you, it’s EXHAUSTING!
I never thought I’d do this but I went on a HurryDate event last night. I’ve done online dating, setups, etc. but going on 17 dates in one night was low on my list of “Ways to Meet Men.” Speed dating basically strips meeting potentials down to its fundamentals where you decide if you want to hook up with someone based on the first impression.
My girlfriends and I signed up for a 25-35 HurryDate in Santa Monica’s Bar Copa about a month in advance since these events usually sell out quickly for women. Finally, the night arrived and we got dressed up in our I’m-a-fun-girl attire and hit the bar.
Getting there early, we were able to stake out a whole sofa and sit next to each other for support…and some snickering. Our too-excited HurryDate hostess started off the night with the rules of the game: the women sit next to a letter, the guys rotate from seat to seat signaled by the whistle blast to end the date and move on.
In the course of the date, you copy the name and number of your date onto your scorecard and circle the “Y” or “N” as the case may be. After the date, sign on to your HurryDate account and record your scores there. If a “Y” date said “Y” to you, too, then it’s a match and information is traded.
It sounded simple enough. So the dates started and already I could tell by looking around the room that the men were way better off than the women. Not to say that all the guys were uggos but the women in attendance were better-looking in comparison AND there appeared to be more girls than guys.
With everyone chatting in this small bar, it was almost too loud to hear one another. And I found myself parched after yelling through five dates. Unfortunately, there was no break time to get a refill on my cocktail.
The lighting in the venue ranged from too-low-to-see candlelight to last-call bright lights. I was sitting in the latter and it was a good thing because I knew that what I saw was what I got. The girls in the candlelight section, however, weren’t as lucky. EVERYONE looks good under tealights and I bet that they picked more “Ys” than the girls in the well-lit section.
In the beginning of the event, I was amped up so dates in the first hour got to see the best of me. But in the next hour, it went downhill. Not that I stopped talking but I definitely didn’t feel as sparkly as I did before. And I had to try very hard to suppress a groan and an “Again?!” as another date appeared to take my 10th date’s place. It went on too long. They really should think about cutting attendance down to 12 girls and guys. Otherwise, near the end of the evening people get drunker and less on their game. And what’s the point of going on THOSE dates if you don’t get to see them at their best?
What do you talk about in the short time you have with each person? Here were some common questions:
Is this your first time at this sort of event?
What do you do?
What do you do for fun?
So how did I make out? Meh. There was the guy with the slicked-back ponytail who wanted me to know that he had a Porsche 911. Another guy spoke so quietly that our conversation mostly consisted of me saying, “Huh?” And then there was the guy who liked to talk about all the different beers that he liked. Out of the 17, there were four nice guys that I said “Y” to but if they don’t pick me, I wouldn’t be devastated.