Speed dating UK - tips and questions online

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Speed dating has become the latest craze on the social scene.

The drink-fuelled merry-go-round of mini dates involved in speed dating has become so popular that some singles even claim to be 'addicted' and admit to attending events three or four times a week.

How Does it Work

The speed dating conveyor belt places an equal number of men and women into a seductively-lit bar or restaurant, and gives each a number and a score card. The women sit down, the men sit opposite and after three minutes of frenzied flirting a bell rings - and it's time to move on, regardless of whether you've had time to deliver the grand slam chat-up line you'd been planning all week.

If you like the person you meet you put a 'yes' on the scorecard before you deal with the next date.

If your 'yes' selections choose you as well your email addresses will be forwarded to each other a few days later - after that it's up to you to make things happen.

The Range, Security and Shadows

Speed dating began in Los Angeles, when Rabbi Yaakov Deyo devised the set up to help young single Jews meet each other. Since then the genre has moved on to include speed dating for Christians, Muslims, Asians, gays, salsa dancers and sugar daddies. There's speed dating for deaf people, speed dating on ferries crossing from England to France and even silent speed dating where men and women can only communicate by written notes.

Spin-offs of the speed dating phenomenon include lock and key events where the men are given padlocks and the women keys. The singletons then tour the room attempting to find the key to their hearts, sorry locks.

And if that doesn't quite float your boat you could try dining in the dark, a crazy craze where the evening starts in a darkened bar and is followed up with a meal in a pitch-black dining room where the waiters have night-vision goggles in order to serve. Candles are brought in after the fourth course so you can see who you've been talking to.

Speed dating is a novel way to find a date and you can always tell your grandchildren that you and grandpa's eyes met across a crowded room, and in the short but intense conversation that followed you found love. There's no need to mention that he moved on to speak to flirt with your best friend as soon as the bell rang.

© The Pink Fridge Online Magazine 2008 - Speed Dating