Speed Dating: With a Vengeance
By Hilary Rowland
Wondering if you want to try speed dating because it's fun, fast and... um, economical? Here's a crash course to give you a head-start.
For research, (oh, the things we journalists have to do in the name of research...) I attended three fun-filled speed dating events. Also in the name of research, I chose three different persona's for the three different events: British Airways Stewardess, Professional Chef, and International Fashion Model. I was curious to see if these men were really serious about meeting an intelligent woman for a serious relationship. For the first event I told the men that I was a stewardess and was away for a lot of the time and therefore not looking for anything serious. As a professional chef, I showed my best sophisticated and educated face, and, as a fashion model, I was uncomplicated and bubbly. Let's see what the men preferred...
About Speed Dating - Pros and Cons
Speed Dating Event #1 - British Airways Stewardess
Speed Dating Event #2 - Professional Chef
Speed Dating Event #3 - International Fashion Model
The Verdict & Tips
Speed Dating in London - A Guy's Perspective
Speed Dating Event #1
The Event: 25 Dates - age category 25-35
The Venue: Held at a funky lounge/restaurant called Gypsy Co-op (Toronto)
The Persona: British Airways Stewardess
Preparation
I started by putting on eyeliner to create the "cat's eyes" you see stewardesses sporting in so many movies. Then I tried to create that "big hair" look but eventually gave up as my super fine hair was just not being agreeable and opted for a high curly ponytail. Lastly, I put on my WonderBra and a tight blue cleavage-bearing top over which I put a matching tiny (but thankfully still covering) shirt. Both were a light blue embroidered floral pattern. I slipped on my jean skirt and knee-high boots, grabbed my orange Kate Spade bag and was ready to go.
The Schtick
"I work for an airline. Yeah, I'm a stewardess... But I mostly work in first class. Mostly businessmen but sometimes I see a celebrity - that's pretty exciting. Ummm...I served Johnny Depp once. Yeah, he was sweet... he wanted extra warm cookies. I fly between here and London mostly. Yeah, I've traveled all over the world. It's not bad. Kinda tiring."
The Talent
Although this event was held at a downtown venue, 90% of the guys who attended lived at least 45 minutes outside the city. Why they wanted to attend an event downtown, I do not know. Since I live right downtown and do not have (or have ever needed) a car, that would immediately discount all but a couple of the guys as I wouldn't be able to get back and forth to the suburbs easily enough.
At least two of the guys who were over thirty admitted that they still lived with their parents. Five or more of the guys seemed to be under five feet tall and another five were rapidly balding. Not exactly top-notch specimens if you're looking for a sexy guy to go on a few spontaneous dates with.
Believable?
The first three minute date I went on, the guy didn't seem to believe me. As soon as I told him I was a stewardess his face contorted into that of a serious skeptic. Maybe he'd seen that episode of Sex and the City - or maybe I was just paranoid. It got easier from there on in. It did feel a bit weird fibbing but I figured I wouldn't have checked 'yes' for any of these guys anyway so they weren't really missing out on anything. At least they had something to tell their friends because by the sound of it I had the most interesting fake job there.
Things ran smoothly after the first guy until I hit guy number 12 who informed me that his sister is also a flight attendant and that he had worked in a managerial position at an airline for four years. I thought I'd been caught for sure (apparently no one in the know has called them stewardesses for a couple of decades) but he seemed not to care whether I was fibbing or not and continued his line of questioning without incident. He even came up to me at break to see if I'd "had any luck" or "checked any YES's yet". No and no. Thanks for asking.
The Verdict
Definitely suburbia hits downtown. Not even close to being worth the $45.
Dates: 25
YES responses (from them): 15 / 60%
Interest (from me): 0 - I didn't meet anyone I'd want to spend a couple of hours on a date with.
Results: 11 of the 15 people emailed within the first two days.
Summary: I got fifteen responses as a stewardess - the average for these events is six YES's being checked before the matching is done, and three final matches. So at fifteen I'm doing pretty well! Especially since I live so far from everyone, which must have been a deterrent to some. Looks like the stewardess persona was a hit.
About Speed Dating - Pros and Cons
Speed Dating Event #1 - British Airways Stewardess
Speed Dating Event #2 - Professional Chef
Speed Dating Event #3 - International Fashion Model
The Verdict & Tips
Speed Dating in London - A Guy's Perspective
Speed Dating
