Speed Dating: With a Vengeance
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 #2
The Event: Simple Date - age category 28-38
The Venue: Held at a fun pub called The Madison Avenue Pub (trivia: this pub sells more beer than anywhere else in Canada!)
The Persona: Professional Chef
Preparation
Not much preparation needed for this one. Fairly natural makeup and hair down but straight (basically wash and go.) I wore my Diesel jeans and a plain fitted white collared shirt that was cropped at the waist. Overtop, I wore a funky Chanel-type blazer. Simple and elegant but with a touch of personality.
The Schtick
"I'm a sous-chef at Truffles. A sous-chef. No - SOUS. I'm an assistant chef. The restaurant at the Four Seasons. I work there on weekends and I work at Canoe for weekday lunches. No, I don't really have a specialty - I try to mix it up so I keep learning. About eight years if you count training. At the CIA in New York. Culinary Institute of America. No, it's about three hours by train from Manhattan. Yeah, it's a lot of fun."
The Talent
First, I'll say not great in the looks department, but we'll keep an open mind anyway. At least most of the guys were from Toronto this time. There were a few out-of-towners (again, why bother, guys?) but on the whole most were from around Eglinton or Sheppard (about 20-30 min from downtown.) Things were going okay, despite the fact that everyone except for one guy (a doctor!) worked in the computer software or finance industry, until the halfway break whistle when everyone stood up I noticed that half of the men I just talked to were about a foot shorter than me!
Believable?
I didn't stumble upon any problems until my 'date' with a guy who'd managed a restaurant for four years. I bluffed my way though the conversation (yeah, I wish I had a set of Sabatiers, too) and made it through the five minutes unscathed.
The only other road bump came when my next 'date' just happened to have also attended the last speed dating event I went to (hmmm...) I tried to talk about my flights to London as little as possible for fear that someone would overhear and it would blow my cover. At the end of that endless five minutes, if anyone overheard they didn't say anything, so I didn't worry about it.
The Verdict
Better than the last event but not a great selection in terms of looks or career. Was it worth the $20.? Let's put it this way - if it wouldn't have been unethical, I would have split at the first break.
Dates: 20
YES responses (from them): 11 / 55%
Interest (from me): 0 - The two guys who seemed like potential date material (the cute blonde guy and the doctor) both lived in the middle of nowhere so the transportation issue arose again.
Results: 9 of the 11 people emailed within the first two days.
Summary: Not bad - especially since the men were older and some may have thought I was too young for them... or maybe I'm just rationalizing about the nine who ticked 'No'. One thing I didn't like is that they made the women switch seats after every date instead of the men. In my humble opinion, the men should be the ones moving because the women have purses, skirts, etc. Not to mention that the men could order food because they stayed at one table and the women couldn't!
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
