#6 The time I...went speed-dating

Edinburgh, Scotland. When I was 24, and feared turning in to an old maid without any prospects (did I mention that I am rather dramatic, and had at this time, just come out of a 3 year relationship with my best friend which had left me properly broken and crying on the bathroom tiles at ridiculous hours. Hello, Elizbeth Gilbert, I am you - without the going to Italy, India and Indonesia and having Julia Roberts play me in a movie. I did, however, go to Australia, New Zealand and America when I ran away. But ok, you still win). Anyways, I had decided that I just wasn't meeting enough regular guys the old-fashioned way. You know, at the water cooler, in a club, on my couch. Fortunately, I was not alone in my thinking and a bunch of girls from my office decided to try speed-dating with me. We found a bar that offered it, the testimonials on their website looked legit and it sounded like a good way to spend a random Tuesday evening.

The way our speed-dating evening worked, was that the men were rotated from table to table (while us women stayed seated, with wine glass in hand) and each "date" lasted 3 minutes. At the end of each interval, the organiser rang a bell, and the guys moved on to the next date. At the end of the event, we were all asked to submit a list of who we had marked off that we liked. If there was a match, contact information was forwarded to both parties. If not, you never had to see the person again. Brilliant.

What an experience!
I met a guy who was in to paintball, racing cars, and video games. And that is all he spoke about, for the full 3 minutes. If you asked me to list things I was not in to, in no way whatsoever, those would be top of my list. Plus he didn't let me speak. At all. No thanks.  Then, there was the guy who had been in an awful car accident a few years before which had resulted in him essentially forgetting how to do things like speak, walk, eat. He had made a remarkable recovery, but it was a bit heavy for a 3 minute date. Plus, his younger brother was also at the event and was just a complete racist. No thanks. Then there was the one who was in his early 30s and STILL lived at home with his parents. This was his life choice, NOT due to circumstance. He also had zero ambition (*shocker*).  The only potential in terms of looks and mutual interests seemed like he was looking more for a one-night stand and wasn't too interested in taking me, or anyone else, to dinner first. Awesome. I honestly felt like I was on a reality show (like The Bachelorette runners-up meets Punk'd), because there was no way that ALL these "men" could possibly be so wrong for me, and my friends.

I had 8 dates that night. All 8 marked me as a match. I marked NONE of them. I never went again.
Has anyone ever had a successful speed-date that lead to something significant?
Don't get me wrong, am not hating on the format, it was a fun(ny) evening - I laughed so much with my girlfriends that night that I had tears running down my face on the drive home, and had to pull the car over!

Yours in trying anything, at least once. x Precious

This is the 6th post in our blog series.We will return on the 27th August 14th September with new The Agony and the Ex-tacy posts.