I'd always turned my nose up at the idea of speed dating. I always thought it would be full of ugly desperate people who can't get laid. Although I think I'm probably beginning to fit that description.
But when I first moved to Hebden Bridge in January I didn't know anyone except the girl who owned the boat I was living on. She worked monday to friday, I worked weekends, and she would often go away at weekends. I didn't feel lonely, because it's such a friendly town, and it wasn't like I didn't fit in as the town is full of lesbians, artists and hippies, but I had no one to go out with. I knew they did a lesbian night once a month at the local lesbian-owned bar, but I didn't want to go on my own because I'd just end up in a corner on my own as I'm too shy to mingle.
Then someone sent me a message online about a speed dating night at the bar I just mentioned. I'm quite a shy person, but I knew if I went I'd have no choice but to chat to people, so I bought a ticket online.
On the night we were all assigned numbers and given two sheets of paper, one with a chart to write notes about each of the people we met, and one with a list of questions in case you got stuck. Before the "dating" had even started, a girl who'd come from Leeds started chatting to me, and introduced me to her friends, I think she felt sorry for me because I was on my own and clearly really quiet and shy. There was also a Lesbian Comedienne hosting the night who provided a great atmosphere!
When the dating started we had three minutes with each person, so after going through your name, where you live/where you're from, and what you do, I didn't need to use the sheet. I would have preferred four or five minutes, as after the "oh wow I can't believe you live on a boat! What type of boat is it?" etc I'd spent two and a half minutes talking about myself. I do like using the "Hi I'm Jayne and I live on a boat" as a chat-up line usually, but I tried to avoid mentioning it. But then I'd get asked why I moved to Hebden Bridge or my current homeless situation would come up in the conversation so I couldn't avoid it. It was quite overwhelming meeting so many new people, but it was a load of fun!
At the end of the night, we handed in a slip of paper with the numbers of the people we'd like to get in touch with again, and the organisers then emailed me the email addresses of the people I listed who also listed me. I got 4 matches, but through adding them on Facebook, I've also been able to add a couple of the people I never actually got to "date". Only one of my matches was local to Hebden Bridge, the others were all in Leeds, but I can still go out in Leeds, and they seem up for coming back to Hebden Bridge for the lesbian night.
So it was definitely a successful night, and the people weren't ugly and didn't seem desperate and I'm sure none of them would have problems getting laid! I met people I'd definitely want to see again and spend more time with, and I had a good time. I would go again and I'd recommend it to everyone. Don't go expecting to meet the love of your life, but just go to have a good night and meet new people!
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