Speed dating: A Fun New Fad

In today�s fast-paced world, we look for newer and faster ways to do everything, whether it is communicating, commuting or dating. Even youngsters are on a fast-track towards achieving their ambitions and have no time for old-fashioned wooing and courting methods. Speed-dating is the latest innovation which has come about to meet an old �fashioned need.

Speed dating is in effect a new take on the traditional system of matchmaking. During the speed dating process people get the opportunity to meet and talk for a relatively small period of time. Most people who register for speed dating events are also potentially looking out for possible relationships with others. Everybody in the speed dating event is aware that everybody else is equally serious about dating.

Speed dating has very interesting origins. Rabbi Yaacov Deyo of the Aish HaTorah was very concerned about the fate of single Jews in large cities including New York where the Jews were a minority. He decided there should be an easy way for them to meet and mingle in the hope of meeting someone who could bond with. Speed dating gathered momentum and became even more famous after being glamorized in the all-time popular show �Sex and the City�.

The process of speed dating is even more interesting. Men and women start off on opposite sides of the room. Each of them gets a few minutes to chat with each and every member of the opposite sex. They can talk about whatever they both choose to and find out each other�s likes and dislikes. This can best be described as a kind of simulated date.

The organizer can choose to set the duration of these short dates for as long as eight minutes or as short as three minutes. This is about the right amount of time that people take to feel comfortable with each other. After all, this is a room full of strangers who�ve probably never set eyes on each other before. Before they actually get to know each other the conversation is rather forced till they find some that they both have in common. However, these short dates are not an opportunity to elicit personal information about another person. Apart from name and other information that is not very personal, individuals are discouraged from giving out their phone numbers and other revealing information about themselves.

After the initial introductory rounds, all the participants shortlist the people they would like to know more about and give the list to the organizers. When all the lists are checked and it is found that two people mutually like each other and would like to meet again, it is considered a match. It is only then that their phone numbers are given to each other. It is then up to the two individuals to call each other up and set up dates on their own.

Festival gives foster children chance to be matched with 'forever families'

HOUSTON - Children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned received an opportunity only they can fully appreciate.  They got a chance to find a “forever family" Saturday. For six years and counting, Texas Child Protective Services organizes a “Heart for Children Festival.”  A spokesperson likened it to speed dating where families licensed and looking to adopt meet with foster children, who ...

Abilene man thankful for God's blessings after frightening ordeal

When he fell just yards shy of the finish line during a half-marathon in Houston, Nathan Hathorn's greatest challenge began.

Tompkins: 'Silencers' on firearms could get loud response

Tompkins: 'Silencers' on firearms could get loud response Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 09:54 p.m., Sunday, January 29, 2012 Included in the package are proposals to open a deer season in Galveston County; close a long irrelevant pheasant season in three southeast Texas ...

Perfect fit for UH offense

Some things are just meant to be. For first-year Houston Cougars head football coach Tony Levine, the stars seemed to align early in his coaching search after being faced with filling several vacancies in his staff following the departure Kevin Sumlin to Texas A&M. “I was sitting in bed one night at midnight and I [...]

In the NFL's quick-fix highway, the Cleveland Browns stay in the slow lane: Bud Shaw's Sports Spin

Two remarkable trends in NFL parity remained intact in 2011 and underscore why Browns fans aren't buying the slow crawl of progress in Berea, Bud Shaw writes in his Spin column.