Because I Can (and My Friends Can't)

Things married people generally can't do:
1) Move abroad in 5 weeks
2) Be apathetic about unemployment
3) Speed date

In my quest to fully enjoy being single, I have finally accomplished number 3. An events service in DC has a speed dating event something like every Tuesday, and I finally decided that that would be a fantastic way to jump start my dating life.

And a jump start it was! Speed dating is just like it is in the movies (although, sadly, Will Smith did not make an appearance)--women on the outside of the circle, men on the inside, men rotate. Make the men work for it, that's what I always say. You talk for 4 minutes--which truly is enough time for a basic screening--and then the men move on. You write down each name on a sheet and put an "x" next to "interested" or "uninterested," so that mutually interested people can contact each other.

You get kind of a typical assortment of people--some fairly cool people, some young people, some old people, some scary people. Well, I don't know if the women ran the full gamut, but the men certainly did. There were, I think, 7 men (and 7 women). I've been contacted by 5, I think, so far. Not bad odds.

Actually, not only have I been contacted several times, but I've actually already had my first date! As I left the event, I left with a guy that I particularly hit it off with, and he confided that he had marked "interested" for me. I was delighted, as he was the one guy in the joint that I actually was hoping would mark "interested" for me, and we walked together for a few blocks before we parted ways.

I crossed the street and found yet another guy I had met at the evening, and he and I started chatting. After a couple of minutes, he mentioned that he was hungry and invited me to dinner (we were standing right outside a restaurant). I accepted, and we had a great time chatting over Ethiopian food. It turns out that he has an MPH (and he knows what epidemiology means, which leads me to believe that he's telling me the truth), he's interested in travel, and he doesn't like spicy food. A great match! I won't mention that I think he's 24 and lives with his parents. After all, these are just hypotheses of mine.

So, that was my evening. The only downside (and it's hardly a downside) is that I didn't get home early enough to put my hair in curlers for Halloween. Whatever; I didn't win the costume contest, anyway. Much more profitable to go on my date!