Salem
singles, don’t despair, just get out there My friend tried Pre-Dating, and while it
was a positive experience, there are other options. April 22, 2004
Angela
Yeager
A friend of mine recently tried speed dating,
or “Pre-Dating” as it now is being called.
The event, put on by a company called Pre-Dating, was held at
an upscale Portland restaurant. She paid $35 for the experience.
Normally, I would be skeptical of this type of event.
But I once was single in Salem and therefore have deep empathy
for my single friends.
We all know Salem is not a kind place if you’re single. It’s
a city that prides itself on its family friendliness.
Unlike that city to the north that at times seems to be oozing
with eligible single people, the singles in Salem are a hidden,
quiet group — which doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Quite the contrary, the great irony is that when I write about
single life, I am flooded with e-mails and calls from singles
who are sure they are the only one of their kind in this city.
The fact that I managed to meet someone in my first two years
here is a great blessing that I credit to pure chance.
So this gal pal of mine decided she wasn’t having much luck
meeting the right people through the usual social circles and
decided to try pre-dating.
Pre-dating seems weird to me. You sign up for an event, at which
eligible men and women are given about five minutes to talk
before rotating partners. You take notes and mark who is a match,
who might be a business/friend contact and who you prefer not
to come in contact with again.
She was nervous but found that once she sat down and got to
chatting with the guys, it was kind of fun. None of the guys
seemed like creeps.
And unlike online dating, which sometimes can take a long time
before you get any face contact, pre-dating gives you an immediate
impression.
And it cuts down on the chance that the person is some anti-social
computer nerd whose last four conversations were with members
of a “Star Trek” chat room.
While she entered her pre-dating experience feeling sick and
nervous, she left feeling confident and sexy. Heck, she even
had a friendly dinner that night with one of the participants.
It’s too soon to tell whether any of these eligible bachelors
were Mr. Right, but she ventured outside her comfort zone —
something we all should try once in a while.
As for you Salem singles in search of a mate, don’t despair.
You don’t need to travel to Portland, go online or even try
one of these pre-dating events. Sometimes it’s just a matter
of time, luck and making sure to go outside your normal socializing
parameters.
If you are a person who stays at home six nights a week, spend
one more night out in public. It doesn’t have to be at a bar,
but get out and mingle.
And for those perfectly content with their singledom, I tip
my hat to you. Of course, that means you’ll probably meet the
love of your life any day now.
It seems that just when you’re happy and satisfied with your
life, Cupid will hit you with that arrow and make it topsy-turvy
again.
For more information, visit www.pre-dating.com Angela Yeager can be reached at (503)
399-6743.
Subscribe now!
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Angela Yeager's She Said What? appears Thursdays
in the Statesman Journal's Weekend section and online in the
Life section. You can reach her at (503) 399-6743.
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