THE INIMITABLE STYLE OF GLORIA MIZZI - MaltaRightNow.com

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| DATING | Pulling a FAST ONE In the name of research, Jo Caruana throws caution and potential embarrassment to the wind to come up to speed on dating in the fast lane. The dating game is not an easy one. And when you’re busy juggling work and commitments with any degree of a social life, fi nding the time to schedule in seeking out your soul mate can bring no end of agro. Experience has taught me that unless you’re a dab hand at giving out your phone number to any good-looker on the bus or willing to pick your future life-partner up off the fl oor of a club at closing time, tracking them down is going to be a bit like looking for a spot of dry soil in a mud hut: A messy and unpleasant job. Coming onto colleagues in the canteen is one way of getting things going, or, of course, there are the increasingly-popular internet sites offering ‘perfect’ matches to spice up your life. But what’s out there for the people who actually need to see in order to believe Those among us who refuse to consider that a clever nick-name is the window to the soul instead of the more traditional eyes For them the answer could be speed dating: the new-age courtship ritual of meeting a potential soul-mate for three short (or long, depending on which way you look at it) minutes while sizing them up before moving on to the next potential beau. Events of this kind have become big business around the world, especially in the US and UK where functions of this sort take place on an almost daily basis. I’m intrigued, but to begin with, also slightly turned-off by the idea. Surely, laying myself on a plate for all and sundry to size up as they take their pick isn’t an entirely dignifi ed way for me to meet my match What if answering a barrage of questions about myself felt as nerve-wracking as re-taking my A-levels And what if they were all… odd But I’m quickly talked round by my group of friends while we holidayed in Scotland recently. Emphatically, we decided to give it a bash and see whether we could spot our potential partners in the group of men queuing up to take part. The company organising it is mercifully professional and promised an informal and classy environment as well as fellow, young professionals who are all genuinely in the same boat as us. As I prepare for my entrance into this whole new world I’m both excited and a little bit fl uttery as yet another fresh worry enters my head: What if none of them like me I decide that it’s best to make an effort and I get my glad rags on. The group of us are acting up like excited teenagers as we enter the venue and are met by the speed-dating Coming onto colleagues in the canteen is one way of getting things going, or, of course, there are the increasingly-popular internet sites offering ‘perfect’ matches to spice up your life. 10 L&S | SEPTEMBER ’06
| DATING | staff who offer us a drink and get us settled. Thankfully they’re not the pitying bunch I’d envisaged, laughing down their noses at the lowly singletons desperate to try anything. They joke away, one of them explaining that she met her boyfriend this way. We’re handed our kit of paper and pens, and led into another room where the format is explained to us and we’re left rearing to go. Let the games begin! I wave goodbye to my chums, who each choose a different part of the room, and make myself comfortable in the chair where I shall remain while the boys weave their way around us. Music starts to play, and in they come like locusts to a corn field as the relay begins. Feeling a bit like a dog-show judge, I sit tight awaiting that perfect pedigree of a person. The choice is up and down: with one person, James, I seem to make some sort of positive connection and can see myself following the night up with a date in the near future, whereas with another, Louis, I’m literally desperate to hear the sound of the time-up bell. Despite having to make three-minutes worth of conversation with the dull-as-a-plank Louis, it’s still more excitement than I could shake a big stick at, and, to be honest it’s a bit like being a child in a sweetshop. It feels like the power is all yours as you tick away to your hearts content, but only if you want to and with no pressure whatsoever to do so in the first place. Talk about a win-win situation. My mates and I meet up for another giggle at the end as we hand in our sheets and hope to goodness the outcome of all this is positive – we won’t know the match results for a couple of days. Comparing notes on clothes, smiles, eyes and just about everything else, the evening draws to a close and we’re immensely glad we made the effort in the first place. And as I make eyes at James from across the room, we walk out into the cold and go our separate ways wondering what those white slips of paper will reveal. As it turns out, despite there being the odd spark or two, we head back to Malta without a perfect man in tow (we were only there for a week after all). It’s fine though, because we had a fantastic time and wouldn’t hesitate to say yes to a repeat performance in the near future. But would it suit the local market It seems there has been some movement in the ranks, and certain local establishments have even given it a bash. But in a country as small as Malta, where you don’t just know your family and friends, but their family and friends too, would it have much scope for success “Oooh, I dunno,” muses one late-twenties male friend of mine (men are generally so much more level-headed about these things). “The idea is a great one, especially when you get to a certain age where you just want to cut the rubbish of going through all the courtship rituals and simply wish to get to the point. You’re not getting any younger, and you’re after a date/lover/soul-mate/spouse-to-be, so if you can add some speed to the whole process, then I don’t see anything wrong with that. “It’s a pragmatic approach for pragmatic people, no matter how ‘clinical’ it may sound to the good old traditionalists. This is a fast-changing world, and the way we build intimate relationships with other people must inevitably change, at least for some people. “But all that said, locally it might feel a bit inbred. Close-knit communities with relatively small social circles aren’t typically conducive to the whole speeddating scene, and I dare say the practice would be frowned upon by the vocal moralists among us. People like me might give less than two hoots, but other people would be more cautious. “The problem is that there’s only so much discretion under which you can veil the speed-dating scene. If it’s too cloak-and-dagger then eyebrows will undoubtedly be raised. But still, I’d give it a try if I had the opportunity.” So there you have it. Dating in the fast lane may well have its benefits, and if the rest of the world’s anything to go by, egg-timers and check boxes are set to become run-of-the-mill in the near dating future. Go for it, a walk on the fast-paced, wild side could be just what you’re looking for! . “It feels like the power is all yours as you tick away to your hearts content, but only if you want to and with no pressure whatsoever to do so in the first place. Talk about a win-win situation.” L&S | SEPTEMBER ’06 11
Page 1: SEPTEMBER 2006 - ISSUE 48 & S T Y L
Page 4 and 5: | COSMETICS 1 | COSMETICS PRODUCERS
Page 7 and 8: | CELEBRITY INTERVIEW | a lifetime
Page 13 and 14: | GROOMING | HAVING AN EDGE IN THE
Page 15: | ISSUES | How to be a DOMESTIC GOD
Page 18 and 19: | BITS | Home Remedy - When it all
Page 20 and 21: NET TELEVISION SCHEDULE 2006 House
Page 22 and 23: NET TELEVISION SCHEDULE 2006 Replay
Page 24 and 25: | LIFE&STYLE | | WELL-BEING | PILAT
Page 27: | HAIR | PERFECT GROOMING FOR YOUR
Page 31 and 32: | FOOD | LIGHT & EASY We’re havin
Page 33: | FOOD | SPAGHETTI WITH CHERRY TOMA
Page 36 and 37: | SPORTS | TOP LEFT: TYPICAL SAVE B
Page 38: | RADIO | A PRECOCIOUS HISTORIAN Fr

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