Speed dating has been growing in popularity among the younger set, and is gaining in its use among the older crowd as well. This unique style of meeting many people in a short space of time in order to find someone worthy of spending more time with, has many advantages, not just for youngsters, but for mature singles as well.
Sandy Camero, who is 69, explains the special challenges she has to meet someone new:
“Its hard meeting a man who is single. They’re either too old and don’t ever want to do anything, or if they are my age, they’re looking for someone younger,” she explained.
There is much concern about the physical well-being of seniors, but rarely are the emotional and psychological needs a topic of conversation. Elderly people also have desires and needs for friendship, intimacy, and love. Those desires do not just disappear when a person hits retirement age.
One expert who cares for the elderly said, “You’ll hear a family say, ‘But we fill grandma’s time.’ That’s great. But no one wants to talk about the other needs grandma might have.”
In case you are not familiar with the idea of speed dating, it is a kind of formalized matchmaking where two people sit and talk for about five minutes before moving on to the next person. They try and use their time together to learn about each other, to see if something ‘clicks,’ and decide if they would like to further pursue a friendship or more.
Speed dating is especially beneficial to the older set. As one observer put it:
“Most young single people are surrounded by other young, single people, so they’ve got plenty of possibilities, plenty of people to choose from. When you’re older, however, you don’t meet new people as regularly or as easily. And those you do meet are likely to be already paired off.”
Speed dating seems like the perfect solution to help seniors find friendship, and hopefully, even love.