The Speed Dating Guidelines.

I recall talking about this with my girlfriend, Toots. It was some time last year when she brought up the issue of speed dating.

How do we go about it?

Do we need to go in with the intention of getting ourselves a man, or two..or we should join just for the fun of it. To be honest, my idea of fun doesn't really include giving a crash course of myself within a span of 5 minutes and repeating the same excruciating process again for the next few hours. Or to convince a guy that I'm the one that they are looking for. It's tiring enough to convince a guy that you fancy or in a relationship with, how do you tackle such issue for a few minutes with a complete stranger?

But that's me I guess. I was already taken aback by the speed dating approach when she first explained on how it works. Come to think of it, am not a good sport really. Hehe. BUT!! I was willing to accompany her if she decides to join the speed dating "fun".

We talked further about how we should strategise the whole interview bit. How do we get to know a man within that 5 minutes span, grab the attention and make some impact.

So I laid out the OSI Model Plan.

Open System Interconnection model, also known as OSI is basically a standard or protocol used to sub dividing the communication/networking system into several different layers. Basic Communication 101. Ok that's that. I'm not going to explain about the protocols because; first -I have totally forgotten about it; second - who cares anyway. We are here to talk and understand about what can be sampled from this Model for our 5 minutes speed dating rules.

Ok, the OSI Model, the old one; contains 7 layers of which within each layer, one or more entities implement its functionality. Refer to the diagram below.


Well, we talked about this and decided that it was just too complicated to adopt this concept and make it work for 5 minutes. So we decided to combine few things that are supposed to work together for this exercise and came up with this guideline.


i. Physical Layer.

We admit that we are a bunch of shallow people. For any equipment to communicate with each other, physical connection must be in place. More so for mere mortal like us. Physical attraction is of course the most crucial aspect of this exercise. There's no point of going to the next level if we can't bear the sight of our err prospect let alone sharing our personal information with him. First 10 seconds should be used to scan physical attributes that make them stand out from the rest..If there's nothing much that we can work with, one should consider to spend the next 4 minutes and 50 seconds to try to get away from that awkward 'interfaces'.

ii. Data Link / Network.

This is pretty much about his career and his affiliations. Does he bear any sort of title to his name like Dr, Ir, YM, ABC, WTF and etc. Scan his business card discreetly if he hands it out to you. Listen carefully - if he name drops any known celebrities, VIPs, VVIPs every now and then when he talks about his achievements or the lack of it. Of course, people think that this should not be an issue, money is never an issue. But hey, you are not there in search of starving artist or a poor poet. Be realistic. You can't expect to be fed with poem when you are hungry. I'm just saying.

The thing about this is, it boils down to your preference. You want his money and his associations, or you want his money but you also want him humble. At my age, when a man talks about how much he makes, he is just being cheesy and I don't really fancy cheese.

iii. Transport.

Self explanatory. He must at least own a car eh? But if you prefer to date someone that spends half of his time saving the planet by taking the public transportation, be my guest.

iv. Session and Presentation.

It is all about image. Baggy jeans, oversized jersey, cap pull backward screams lame or stuck-in-the-moment-he-can't-get-out-of. If he took the time to look presentable for the session, he must worth some sort of acknowledgement from you. But if he looks better than you (and you are looking your best that night) you might consider the possibility that he carries a man bag everywhere as well. Judge the book from its cover. Because what ever that he is covering can be judged through his appearances. ;)

Last but not least;

v. Application.

This would only come to play when you have decided to hand over more than just your number. Application and performance are the only two aspects left for you to consider whether he is worthy of your future headache and sorrows. Set your standard high because low expectation is easily achieved. ;)


So there you go. The adaptation of speed dating rules based on OSI 7 Layers Model, courtesy of Lina and Toots. Have fun and don't be too naughty.

p/s: Whether we have realised this or not, all of us are guilty of using the same method to gain access to a friendship or relationship.