If you’re looking for a boy or girlfriend there’s a new way of doing it and it’s called “speed dating”. It’s the latest “sport” in Britain, although the Americans have been doing it for years. Basically, you go to a bar where you have a few minutes to talk to someone. Then, a whistle blows and you talk to someone else. If you like someone, you put a tick by their name on a scorecard they give you at the start. At the end of the evening, the organisers see if there are two people who liked one another. Susan, a 32-yearold American girl (who lives in Britain) recently went to a “speed dating” bar. She told us who she met and what happened afterwards.

Desperate

A couple of months ago I decided to try speed dating. It all took place in a small bar in London. My friends and I turned up early and the organisers gave us a badge with a name and number. I grabbed a big glass of white wine before the action started, then we went to find our tables. I was lucky number 13. I had expected fat, balding 45-year-old men, but in fact there was a good mix of people. Most of them looked fairly normal and I was pleasantly surprised to realise that: a) There were more men than women. b) There were only a couple of weirdos. c) Most of the men did seem to be in the right age group (25-35). It was time to start.