| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 5:34:57 AM | One of our frequent over-45 posters just went to a speed dating event, which made me stop to ponder.
Some concepts may never quite succeed with our generation. Example: I have an iPod (long story) but don't use it. I'm wondering if speed dating is one of these concepts.
I'd have to do the variety where the gal gets to sit in one spot and the fellas come to her - because if I had to circulate, my whole three minutes would be consumed by getting from one seat to another! No, really. I have spinal disorders and standing up is one set of laborious efforts, then moving at snail's pace from one place to another with walker or cane for assistance is another chapter. Actually I imagine just being seen ambulating would win me a big fat zero from the speed dating crowd.
Has ANYONE in this age group found speed dating to be a successful way to meet people? | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 6:00:23 AM | Personally, I wouldn't even consider it, for me at least. if I choose to meet someone, I want a little more then 3 mintues to know some info on them. Specially to be on a one to one alone. It AIN'T going to happen.
I believe for a man, it could be alot different, there isn't that much of the fear factor involved. Sure there some women out there that could kick some royal booty, but I think that % is fairly low. I could be wrong.
I also think speed dating was started in the larger populated areas where hussle and bussle are the main cause for the lack of connections. Here in the country, people get turned off just by the word SPEED! | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 6:07:14 AM |
Personally, I wouldn't even consider it, for me at least. if I choose to meet someone, I want a little more then 3 mintues to know some info on them. Specially to be on a one to one alone. It AIN'T going to happen.
I agree. How much can you learn about a person in 3 minutes? Jack the Ripper could probably have come off as charming for 3 minutes. I also like to email a lot and know something about the person before I even meet them; then it's like meeting a friend, not a total stranger. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 6:07:41 AM | The only kind of “speed dating” that would be interesting to me - would be if no one said anything at all.
I can’t see myself trying to snap to attention and deal with rapid fired questions - if I had ZERO interest in the gal. Even if she looked nice to me - the “drilling” would cause me to clam up.
If it was pure eye contact - that might work pretty good.
Put everyone in a size appropriate room with a number on them. Have a card with all the numbers and a 1 2 3 beside the number.
When the time is up - hand in the card (with your number on it). If a guy and a gal both gave each other the 3 - give them both the contact info or ........... THEN do the face to face questions.
------
I have two iPods and use them mostly for personal development ebooks. I am a hard core Apple guy and have been since 1981. I don't have an iPhone because you are locked in to one phone company.
As far as seniors and - being "now" or not - personally I am up to speed on things I am interested in and - don't give a hoot about some "in" things. I am about 5,000,000 mile away from being any kind of fad follower. I still wear Levis and consider Wrangers whimpy lol. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 6:09:20 AM | Speed Dating for Seniors.. is that an oxymoron ? LOL.. I'd never attend a wholesale auction of people... personally would rather go bar hopping and senior center diving...rotf! ..... OMG.... I find the whole speed dating idea repulsive. Musical Chairs went out of fashion a long time ago...
Try being yourself for 3 minutes at a time with some new face jumping in front of you... It is as close to a brothel situation any decent woman may ever come to.. lining up and being checked out and selected... yikes and they are paying the man instead...
It is a demeaning way for people to meet.. better like the POF functions I've attended.. you go mingle, meet new people..both sexes in a Social Atmosphere...
Personally a tooth pulling ranks higher on my list of great ideas than speed dating.
Save your money for the next POF singles cruise gang..
Girlflower | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 6:09:50 AM | They have 'SPEED" dating for seniors? Well then they have to give us 10 min not 3 so we have time to say "whats your name again" multiple times. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 7:11:21 AM |
Personally, I wouldn't even consider it, for me at least. if I choose to meet someone, I want a little more then 3 mintues to know some info on them. Specially to be on a one to one alone. It AIN'T going to happen.
I'd think speed dating would be a dangerous endeavour. Imagine the G-force against your face? Our cheeks would be blown behind our heads... making us look like a Saint Bernard in a wind tunnel.... imagine the slobber on the walls behind us?
I opt for safer methods of socialising. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 7:29:36 AM | I speed dated once. Met her at the local coffee shop. She took one look at me. I took one look at her. Both of us said "You're not what I expected." The whole date lasted 2 1/2 minutes. javascript:smilie('')
javascript:smilie('') | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 7:41:22 AM | Heck I think speed dating is a good idea. I don't usually get a woman mad in the first 3 minutes, it takes 7-10 minutes in most cases!!!!  | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 7:42:11 AM | all yee of shallow minds. I can't say I have done the speed dating thing, yet, I can't say I won't either. It's like being a comedian, and having 3 minutes to make someone laugh. man! what a rush that would be!
ok, what's so hard about having some fun meeting people and having 3 minutes to do it in. It's, calling it as you see it. if she/he laughedwith you, maybe there's a chance you may see each other again, maybe even later in the evening. HHHHMMMMMMM
I mean really, these thnigs go for an hour or 2, but is that the end of the evening? maybe not, less you are still shallow minded, and don't make that move.
IN todays world what keeps us closed in, is that we don't have our " basket list" sort of speak...................get out and do, and you'll find you're having more fun, laughing much much more, and I can count on the fact you'll probably find someone of interest to date, so don't shun away a chance to meet someone, be it at the market, with a quick 3 second look and smile, or speed dating where you get to look and smile for a full 3 minutes.. .................................try it ,you might like it! | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 7:51:09 AM | I suppose the actual "date" then would have take place in six months..after you both got out of traction.
But..would you remember which one you were supposed to actually date by then..and then again..after all that..would it matter?
 | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 8:33:47 AM |
I speed dated once. Met her at the local coffee shop. She took one look at me. I took one look at her. Both of us said "You're not what I expected." The whole date lasted 2 1/2 minutes.
Exactly. Even when people send email for weeks, they make snap decisions in the blink of an eye when they meet.
If you go bar-hopping or clubbing, most women won't give you 3 minutes of conversation to impress them, they've made up their minds before you even open your mouth. How many men have heard "Keep moving..." before they even said hello?
Speed dating actually gives a guy a fair chance to say something intelligent before he's condemned by his PayLess shoes and Target wardrobe. People have said on these boards time and again that a first date should be "just for coffee" so that it's easy to cut out after a short time. Well, here's your opportunity for just such a meet.
I think a lot of people assume they will be forced to follow some sort of dating script. Why do you think of it as an interrogation? You don't have to ask a single question. You can just sit and stare for three minutes. You can talk about the weather. Considering that most people will scan a room and decide ahead of time which people they'd REALLY like to chat with, why bother going through the routing with the others? Just say hello, smile a lot and pull out your PDA, they'll get the message. Or take the opportunity to get info on things OTHER than your date. Ask them about the restaurant/bar you're in and what's best about the place. Ask them about the service that set up the speed dating --- what's their reputation? Ask them about their impressions of other speed daters.
Use you time to best advantage, there no need to force yourself to learn about every person in the room. The point is to have fun and make use of the opportunity to sharpen your social skills. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 8:41:55 AM | (I suppose the actual "date" then would have take place in six months..after you both got out of traction.
But..would you remember which one you were supposed to actually date by then..and then again..after all that..would it matter? )
because it might place you in traction, or maybe your memory is fading already , does not mean the others who do enjoy a live even from time to time, may have the same challenges......
I'm asure if you went to an event and was atracted to someone, you might just tie a ribbon round your finger to remind you to see him laterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 8:53:02 AM | So Desertbro, are you saying you have tried it?
Then the next question is, what kind of results did you have? Were there any mutual "want to meet" decisions? Did the ones you met turn out better than people you've met online?
Inquiring minds want to know! | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 9:28:06 AM | | In the book "Blink" there is a part on speed dating and why it works. "It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens in a blink of an eye. When you meet someone for the first time, or walk into a house you are thinking of buying, or read the first few sentences of a book, your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions." Malcolm Gladwell, author. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 9:54:17 AM |
In the book "Blink" there is a part on speed dating and why it works. Hi, Ray. Well first off, I'm trying to establish if it DOES work - in our age group. In the city where I live, the first speed dating events were for two age groups - 18 to 25 and 25 to 35. Only later did they add boomers groups - and I haven't been to one. I asked someone who had gone if they thought it was any good and they said no, just a waste of money.
So have you tried it? with what results? | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 10:34:58 AM | When I went to college, the cafeteria was not quite big enough and there were never enough tables. After getting off the food line, most people would stand and wait for a table while there were empty chairs everywhere.
It just so happened that groups of men and women would ban together and grab a table for themselves and seat 7 or 8 at tables that held 10.
Being that I was given a grant to go there and had unlimited spending for tuition, I took as many classes as I could schedule and most days I only had 30 minutes to eat and get to the next class.
Seeing those empty seats and waiting for a table seemed dumb to me and I would approach a table full of women and ask it the chair was taken. If they said no, I'd sit there and have a table full of women to talk with.
After a few months of this I knew who I could get along with and who would turn their nose up.
Now, would I pay to attend an event where I could meet a dozen women in a serial fashion for 3 minutes at a time, probably not but my form of speed dating always produced interesting women I could have fun with on dates. | |
|
Tramp
|
Joined: 2/8/2007
Msg: 18 | |
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 10:50:09 AM | I did go once... Felt like a meat market; made a new friend, the hostess.
Will not go again. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 10:55:22 AM | | I've not gone on a speed date before. Think about it though, when we meet someone for the first time, I'd say in less than 10 minutes, we've made a decision as to whether or not we'll go out with them again. I'd say that would almost be a "speedy" decision | |
|
Tramp
|
Joined: 2/8/2007
Msg: 20 | |
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 10:58:51 AM | | Yes, we make that decision sometime even as they walk toward us; but, no matter what, I spend time with a date, usually hours, no matter what kind of interest there is. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 11:06:43 AM | I asked someone who had gone if they thought it was any good and they said no, just a waste of money
But if they're still single, *everything* has been a waste of time.
Online sites, Events&Adventures, ItsJustLunch, bars, friends.
So I have a formula now - # of women met divided by Time & Money spent
I'm a little surprised at last night's results (although they're not final yet, participants still have a day or two to enter results). It was the best event out of the 7 I've attended but apparently I have the worst results.
I'd date 6 of the 9 women I met. (66%).
Previous events I've averaged around 25%.
Usually I decide that I'll accept the top 20-25%, regardless but I had a couple of events where 10% was a stretch.
But OTOH, there was an age skew.
Last night the average age was perhaps five to eight years younger than I've met before. (I was one year over the max age for men). So it could an age issue. And women are always put off by travelling. And they might be put off by my profile. But those have been constants for every previous speed date.
The whole sex / romance thing just sucks.
I'm not sorry I got divorced.
At least I'm having some fun now with no responsibility.
But I understand better why people stay in marginal marriages.
It's not worth the effort to replace what you had with the same thing.
I meet quite a few guys like me.
Forties, fifties, travel a lot.
I met three this week in San Jose.
One guy sat down at the bar, looked at my laptop and phone and said,
"You travel a lot, right?"
And we proceeded to discuss our mutual #1 problem - meeting women. | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 12:00:05 PM | "The only kind of “speed dating” that would be interesting to me - would be if no one said anything at all.
"
Ron, I think that's a GREAT idea to have people simply look into each other's eyes for one minute, without saying a word...
then simply "rate" the interchange...turn in your card, and be "matched" with people who both responded positively to each other.
Then, give those people time to talk, ask questions, etc. Brilliant, Ron. Simply brilliant! I'm going to recommend it for our next POF gathering in Indy.
Hal | |
|
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 12:12:01 PM | | God I hate the word senior ,especially in the 50s category.... I work with elderly and heres hoping there will be speed dating when Im a senior LOLand no Im not into denial and whats up with these guys trashing women for acting how they feel not what the numbers say...???? | |
|
fay98
|
Joined: 8/8/2007
Msg: 24 | |
| |
| Speed Dating for Seniors
Posted: 1/20/2008 12:34:46 PM | Ha ha Broward..
...tag..you're it!
On a much more serious note..I wonder how much would be gained by the eyes meeting on a positive note..if you're always a positive person. Wouldn't that then shine through the eyes? So..you would be considered compatible in dating..everyone else there..wouldn't you? Then it would still come down to vocalizing..likes/dislikes..intelligence/lack there of..hobbies/activities..work/so on..wouldn't it? I don't know if I would be able to say..the eyes have it. JMO | |
|
Home
login 
