I still wasn't ready to go back to online dating, there had to be other options. My girlfriend that was sick and couldn't make it to the last speed dating event, managed to convince me to give it another go. This time she was going too. She heard of a lady that organized these events and made sure all participants were within a certain age range with similar interests. She also had a matchmaking service that was quite popular. This one was supposed to be for single professionals with women aged 35 to 45 and men aged 40 to 50. The venue was another restaurant in the market. We hadn't been there before, but it looked quaint. We met for coffee before the event and formulated our questions. She was still laughing about the reaction I got from Mr. Tantrum at the last event and I think she was secretly hoping for a similar show so she could be there to witness it first hand! In hind site it certainly would have injected some excitement. I felt sorry for all of us. The ladies were all well dressed and gainfully employed.
The organizer greeted us at the door and took us upstairs to a private room. Again they provided drinks. The women mingled for a bit and then we were asked to pick a table and sit down. The men were brought in. One by one we had our 7 minute dates.
Round 1 - Mr. Hawaii
This guy was definitely older than 50. He had an Elvis hair style with a loud fluorescent Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to his belly button. I was speechless. My girlfriend looked over and burst out laughing. I had a really hard time keeping a straight face. I suggested he ask the questions because I honestly didn't want to know what fruit he would be or why. Something told me he would have pick a banana and I wasn't going there. Ultimately he was unemployed, divorced, having financial issues, but enjoying life meeting women. I really wanted another drink!
Ding! The bell, what a welcomed sound!
Round 2 - Mr. Hawaii 2?
What are the odds 2 guys at the same event would wear loud Hawaiian shirts open to their belly button? This one had a thick gold chain to match. The gum chewing made him look even cooler than the last guy. Once again, the ball was in his court. Another one that wasn't employed, but he was an artist looking for himself. He filled me in on all of his artistic talents and one day was going to be rich. A+ for being confident and positive, unfortunately I wasn't buying what he was trying to sell. NEXT! I called the waiter over and ordered another drink.
I thought this was supposed to be a professional singles event. Wouldn't that imply they have to be employed???
Thankfully there were only 5 men, disappointingly not one was employed, most were well over 50 and pretty bad when I felt my Dad was way more attractive than all of them combined. I was so upset. My girlfriend apologized profusely and told me to look on the positive side. Positive side? Oh yeah, no stalker! I think all the women felt the same way. We all left without identifying men we'd like to share our contact info with. Some of the women let the organizer have it on the spot, glad I wasn't the only one that was mad. The men looked stunned that none of us wanted to go out with them again. Unreal!
I sent the organizer an email the next day expressing my extreme disappointment with the event. She mislead the participants and lied about the men all being employed professionals. I asked her what her definition of professional was and why most of the men were well over 50! She said there was a shortage of candidates and she didn't want to cancel the event, so she used what she had. Nice. The good old bait and switch!
So much for being honest. She should have cancelled the event instead of ripping us off. When I demanded a refund she said she had provided the service. I certainly didn't get what I paid for, but on a positive note I didn't wind up with another stalker! That ended my speed dating career.
Then we heard about Singles Gourmet. Having a European background, most of my friends are foodies and love trying new restaurants so this sounded promising. These events were far more organized and as far as I could tell, everyone was at the very least employed! We went to a few of the events and had a really nice time, but I mostly met women. The networking aspect was helpful from a career perspective. I'm still in touch with some of those women through work. Having contacts in different fields comes in very handy. The venues were interesting, but for a single mom the cost was a bit high and I wasn't having any luck finding a mate. We attended a few events when we wanted to try a new restaurant. I would recommend Singles Gourmet, the events were classy and I met some really nice people, sadly not my prince charming.
Back to the drawing board!
Dateless in Ottawa
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