An adrenaline rush
The after-college-dating-life is...well, not all that great. I can't tell you how many times I have heard "you live in Atlanta, there are tons of people there, I am sure you will find someone". They are wrong. If you are in this situation now, you have probably experienced some of the following a time or two! I think living in a big city presents its own challenges -
People my age already have their friend groups so it is hard to break into that circle.
Isn't there someone at your work you could date?
Or the worst is when someone you know sets you up on a date with a "family friend" that would be just 'PERFECT' for you.
Let's just skip right over dating apps - what a pain. To some, dating apps add additional pressure -- you must base your decision solely on appearance and what that individual chose to write in their bio, which depending on the individual can be the bare minimum or simply emoji's. That wasn't much of a skip over was it?!? oops.
I use to think that "speed dating" was a thing of the past and didn't really exist anymore. To my surprise it is still a thing (or maybe it is starting to become a thing again, who knows) either way it has been something I've wanted to do for a long time. A couple months ago Poojit, a friend from college, moved to Atlanta for an amazing opportunity at this new company, turns out his office is less than 1 mile from mine! How stinkin' cool is that?! Any who, we make it a point to have lunch together every Thursday, you know just to get some time away from the office and reconnect! It was during one of our Thursday lunches where we were discussing the dating scene in Atlanta where I mentioned that I've always wanted to go speed dating. We laughed an joked about how fun and scary that would be and I thought that was the end of that.
A couple weeks later Poojit was out with a group of friends and came to the realization that he was one of two out with that group that was single - which is a real slap in the face if you aren't careful! While socializing with married couples (or partners in a serious relationship) is fun and exciting, it can start to make you jealous creating ill feelings towards your friends, which is NOT what we want! At our next Thursday lunch, Poojit mentioned that him and another friend did a little research and found a speed dating event in Atlanta in a couple weeks - uh, I am pretty sure I immediately began to panic, I could feel my heart begin to beat faster and my palms started to sweat -- IT IS REAL, THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. Holy Crap! That one quick comment made as a joke (I think) has turned into something real, I am doing this. Poojit and I both registered and started the count down!
We arrive in the parking lot of the café and start to make our way to where we think the café is located, we came across a storefront with lots of people milling around. I began to panic as I looked around at the various individuals there -- there were a lot of older men (this is a complete guess here but I'd like 60-70 year old's) I thought "oh goodness, what did we sign our self up for". I quickly approached the welcome table and asked hesitantly "is this the speed dating event?" The man at the table chuckled and said "no ma'am, this is a poetry reading but I am sure I can find some gentlemen in here that would love to take you out on a date". I smiled politely and sprinted back to Poojit!
Finally, we arrived at the café - thank goodness for the staff! They new there was a speed dating event and automatically assumed we were all nervous and greeted us with the drink menu! Praises to them! The café was a swanky place with dim lights and a fun vibe. Poojit and I were one of the first people there and were quickly approached by Kara! Kara is a brave soul - she drove down from Chattanooga (2+ hours) just to attend this event - Go Kara! I would probably still be sitting in my car giving myself a pep talk to "just get out of the car, it won't be that bad, it will be fun -- just get out of the car". Are you wondering how this event is going to work? -- Throughout the night the ladies will remain in their seats and the males will move to the right every 5-7 minutes. (Not sure why the company doesn't just make it a set number -- maybe the host can tell if the majority of the conversations are awkward and will require a move earlier?!? Who knows) Kara and I decided it would be best to sit beside each other just in case the other needed rescuing, we even had a safe word!
Let the speed dating begin! There were 15 men and 12 women - we were each assigned a number and were given a ballot where we would give each date a rating. Categories included: Never in a million years, Oh Dear, never mind, Not really my cup of Tea, One more drink, maybe an Definitely fancy a go. At the end of the night we will write down our top 5 and let the magic happen.
The first couple people to sit down with me, you could tell we were both nervous - the main questions asked were "have you done this before" or "what do you do", "Are you from Atlanta" -- your typical get to know you questions. I found the best approach was to avoid going into detail in regards to what I did for work, to others what I do is very boring and there are more fun and interesting things to talk about. Heck we only have a maximum of 7 minutes and I don't want to spend time talk about wholesale finance! I mean, I love it but I am sure others don't feel this way.
I know you've been dying to know what types of people were there -- all kinds! You had your nerds, jocks, all different races - just a large variety of people! Which is exactly what you want! Umar - Oh Umar, it was such an experience to meet you. Umar was just starting his residency at Emory and just recently moved here from New York. We talked about all the fun things there are to do in New York - during this discussion he asked me if I have ever been to the Museum of Sex. I was shocked. I didn't know what to say, was this even a real museum or is he making this up? Ultimately, the answer is NO, but it is a bit intriguing -- a museum about sex. I asked him if he had ever been there, his response kinda shocked me a bit, but should it have? That was such a random question to begin with, I should have been prepared. He said no he has never been there, because he didn't have a girl to take with him. Me: hmm, that is unique, you would take a girl there on your first date? Umar: yes, it would be good to know is she could handle it. It would be better to go with a girl than your guy friends. Could you imagine how that conversation would go "Yo, dude you getting hard from this? Yeah, me too". WHAT, who says that out loud! I was baffled, all I could do was laugh and change the direction of the conversation. Thank you Umar for making me laugh, I enjoyed our 7 minutes together. Umar was a "Not Really My Cup of Tea.
Billy - Billy was towards the middle of the pack - when he sat down it was so refreshing - he didn't come right out and ask me what I did. We talked about a bunch of random things, how thought he was really ready to be an adult and decided to get a dog, a corgi! I had such a good time listening to him tell me about how much having a dog has changed/challenged his life and how he wasn't fully aware of what a big commitment it was to properly care for a pup. He then shared with me that his older brother got to name him, which was kind of a cool story! Right before the shoulder tap we discussed programming and I shared with him how I wrote my first game in python and how frustrated I was that I had "white spaces" that were ruining my life. (I am not sure you can sense the frustration unless you have written a program and watched it fail all because you put 2 spaces instead of one!) UGH, it is the WORST! That is until it works and then it is absolutely amazing! Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent! Billy was a "Definitely Fancy a Go"!
Poojit - Poojit ended up sitting in front of me in the middle of the rotation which was awesome! It gave us a nice little break but also allowed us to exchange stories and talk about how the night was going from another perspective! Poojit was a "Fancy another go! Next Thursday!
Wes - Wes had a haircut that I haven't seen in years... a bowl cut! Bless his heart. Wes immediately told me that this was not his first rodeo and he was not going to ask me the typic questions, which I was thankful for! Wes had prepared a couple of questions for tonight's event! Question 1, If the doctor gave you 30 days to live, what would you do?! If I was given 30 days to live I think I would travel to both the North and South Pole and really anywhere else I wanted to go. I would then have a huge party so I could have everyone I love in the same place! I then asked Wes how he would spend his last 30 days, which is where it got a bit weird for me. He said he would find everyone he knew and tell them exactly how he felt about them, good, bad, and ugly. I was a bit taken back by this as I don't know why you would have to wait until you only have 30 days to live to share your feelings with those around you. I mentioned to him that I felt he could share those feelings now as he does have a choice (most of the time) if he wanted that person in his life, now is the time to rid yourself of toxic people! Question 2, "if you could marry a TV character who would it be and why" - while I though of my answer he informed me that his would be Max from the TV show 2 Broke Girls as she has a dark sense of humor and smokes weed. I see you Wes, I see you. Unfortunately, for me I didn't have time to answer the question as our time was up, but if I had to answer it now I think my answer would be Tony DiNozzo from NCIS! He is the cutest, has an awesome job, and makes me laugh constantly! Bless his heart, but Wes was a Never in a Million Years.
Matt - I was excited for Matt to make his way around to the seat directly in front of me! Finally, he made it - we spoke a little bit about our nerves, how we feel about our current situation and what we do for fun. We discovered we both like to travel, so I shared with him about my trip to Iceland last year and our joint desire to go to Alaska! It felt like we had only been talking for a minute before he was getting tapped on the shoulder to move to the right. Matt did not seem like the type of person who would need to go speed dating to find a date - he was attractive, fit, and had a deep voice (those make me weak at the knees!!) Matt was a "Fancy another go!
At the end of the night, Jake approached me and said "I felt like we hit it off tonight, would you be interested in exchanging phone numbers and possibly going for a drink next week?" I wasn't quite sure what to say, part of me wanted to say "let's see if we connect" but I decided to just give him my number, what could it hurt?!? You have to give him props for asking for my number in person! Bold move Jake, bold move.
We turned in the ballots and waited for the magic to happen. Our matches should be in our inbox within the next 24 hours! Ahh, how is one suppose to sleep when they know they have an exciting email coming soon?!?!
Throughout the night Poojit made friends with two of competition -- while we were walking to our cars we decided to go out for SUSHI! All in all, I will say it was an excellent night! The rush of meeting a new person every 7 minutes was incredible. While I know this type of event is not for everyone, my adrenaline was though the roof!
When I woke up Saturday morning I had an email from CheekyDates! I had 3 matches - Jake, Billy, and Matt! Before the end of the day on Saturday I had an email from Billy asking to go out, on Sunday I got a text message from Jake, and I decided to take matters with Matt into my own hands, I emailed him.
Talk about bad timing, I was scheduled to work in Dallas for the next week, so I wouldn't be able to meet these guys right away. Let's hope they are willing to wait! I still have not heard from Matt, but I am stoked to get back to Atlanta to meet back up with Billy and Jake!
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