Need for speed? – Get ready. Get set. Date.

What have I gotten myself into now? I wondered. Do people actually do this outside of romantic comedies?

I wasn’t there to meet friends. I was there to speed date.

If you’re single, you’ve inevitably heard the saying: Dating is hard. It’s far from the cheeky 1960s game show of the same name, and it’s nowhere near as much fun as Mystery Date, that oh-so-popular board game dragged out at sleepovers of yore.

It’s difficult to meet singles, but perhaps especially so in Baton Rouge, where more people seem to settle down relatively young. What does one do when the obvious channels—school, work, friends and family connections—haven’t yielded “that someone special?”

For me, I thought, why not give speed dating a try? While it may not be the ultimate solution to meeting people, it is one more weapon in the arsenal for area singles.

Pre-dating.com hosted the particular event I attended, which was limited to participants between the ages of 25 and 40, a bit of a wide gap, in my estimation. They also offer events for those between the ages of 42 and 55. Of the two events they have hosted in Baton Rouge, both have sold out. My curiosity is not alone.

So what was I up against? Instantly, I was transported back to a junior high-school dance. The men stood on one side of the room, while the women gathered towards the other. ? Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who felt uncomfortable. A single mother sat next to me, glanced about the room, and quietly bemoaned, “I hate dating.”

I understand her pain all too well. It’s tough to put yourself out there, let alone 10 times in one night.

The event worked in a relatively simple way. There were 10 men and 10 women. Each pairing spent six minutes getting to know one another, and if, at the end of that time, one side of the couple was interested in getting to know the other side better, he or she would indicate so on a card provided. The event host then gathered the cards and shared contact information based on preferences. Pre-dating.com in particular strives to protect its participants, and I appreciate that.

If you are not interested in talking to someone beyond the event, but they are interested in you, they do not receive your contact information. That kind of security helped me make more honest appraisals of my pairings.

To start, I took a seat at my assigned table and dove into a conversation with my first potential match. He was more than happy to answer my questions, but didn’t ask any in return. Instead we had long, uncomfortable pauses. No go.

The next match couldn’t have been more different. Instead of going through the boring introductory questions, we immediately launched into a quick-witted and fun conversation. This is a tactic I would recommend, since the idea is to give people a slice of your personality and not your income statement.

The next few pairings went by in a blur; the men were polite, kind, but they insisted on covering the basics: Where are you from? What do you do for a living? What do you do for fun? That made it more difficult to distinguish one from another.

My last pairing began by listing all of the qualities he wanted from a wife, and then asked if I would be interested in taking on that role. No thanks.

Was it awkward? Yes. Was it uncomfortable? Of course. I dare anybody to sustain 10 six-minute conversations with strangers and not feel exhausted at the finish. At the end of the night, though, I did walk away with at least one person I wanted to talk to again, and lots of stories to regale good friends with over drinks.

So if you’re a Baton Rouge single and decide to try speed-dating, hey—if you don’t secure a good date, like me, you’ll at least walk away with a good story.