Speed Dating in DC

Earlier this week I decided to try my hand at Speed Dating. I'm sure everyone's heard about speed dating. It's when there are a group of men and a group of women who have a limited amount of time to get to know one another.

I heard about the event through one of the Meet-Up groups I belong to and thought it sounded interesting besides I've never done it and heard it could be fun. Also, it was touted as being for Young, Black Professionals between the ages of 27-39, my ideal range, so I figured why not.

It was held at a chill spot, JoJo's Restaurant & Bar on U Street in DC. They usually have a live jazz band during the evenings and the drinks are pretty good so I figured if speed dating was a bust, the night wouldn't be lost. The event was scheduled to begin at 7:15. Me being the prompt, anti-CP time, person that I am I arrived at 7. There were about 4 others there when I got there. The early arrivals weren't lookers so I prayed that some more suitable candidates would be coming soon and they did.

The Speed Dating hostess handed me my name tag and with a number on it that corresponded to the table I was to sit at for the evening. She also handed me a sheet with the rules and a list of sample questions (I decided I wouldn't rely on them and would see how the conversations evolved). On the back was a space to write the other person's name along with comments and whether they were a yes or no.

Everything was neatly arranged and I appreciated the order, because I can't stand disorganized events. As for the set-up there were 12 stations set-up. The event was meant to be intimate as the hostess informed me so it was limited to 12 women and 12 men, 1 of the men didn't show up. The women was seated on the inside while the guys sat in the outside chair and rotated in order.

At first, I was thinking what am I getting myself into then my strawberry margarita kicked in and I was ready for the games to begin. The hostess called the start and we had 5 minutes per person. Some of the guys were extra animated, some were very laid back. Some acted young while other seemed like they should be my Father's friends, I swore two of them lied about their age and were over 40. We chatted about the basics like where are you from, what do you do (the typical DC question that I HATE), have you done this before, what do you like to do. Some noticed the cartouche necklace I was wearing from my recent trip to Egypt and inquired about it. One asked me if I had any kids and acted shocked when I said no. The conversations were pretty surface nothing too deep. One guy thought he was being creative and asked me "MAC or PC" when I answered "umm I guess PC" he excitedly high-fived me. In my mind, I immediately check "No" and was thinking NEXT.

After the event, the hostess sent us a link where we could go and check yes or no next to the person's name and number. From there you can decide if you want to connect with them. I'm looking at my notes from that night and I ended up saying "Yes" for 3 out of 11 (one was a maybe but there's only yes or no, so I figured I'd make him a yes), as of now, 9 out of the 11 guys have said "Yes" for me. We'll see if this brings forth any potentials. All in all, it was fun and I would definitely do it again.