This Post is not about Iran!

By MARC GOLDBERG
 While the potential threat of Iranian missiles raining down on us captivates local and international media I continue to embark on everyday, regular life in Tel Aviv by doing something that I have never done before, namely Speed Dating.
That''s right I agreed to subject myself to 5 minutes of abject humiliation, 7 times in a row in the name of lurve. I toddled down to the 15 Minutes bar on the corner of Arlozeroff and Ben Yehuda Street and prepared to meet the girl of my dreams...or not.
Naturally, Speed dating is both humiliating and sad so I had invented the excuse that I was going along simply in order to blog about the experience should anyone ask. What I forgot was that all the others were there for Speed Dating too and so my excuses would sound a little bit, well, weird. Why would anyone want to write a post about Speed Dating?
I decided to take the plunge after seeing a load of links to Sigal''s Speed Dating appear on my Facebook page and could no longer answer the question "Why not?" with anything particularly meaningful.
And so I agreed to pay the 130 NIS that it costs and sauntered down there. You can imagine, arrival is very strange, the Speed Dating hasn''t started yet so..er...am I allowed to make small talk first? Wouldn''t that ruin the whole thing for later when I meet the girls and we have already done the whole name, number and where do you live bit?
It took a bone crunching 20 minutes or so to get started, during which Facebook on my iPhone became more interesting than it has ever been in my life. I was one of 15 singles (yes 15) who had arrived and was gratified to hear many people around me saying things like "I could really use a shot" it was less gratifying when I realised that I was the only one who actually drank one, well two actually but who''s counting? 
I sat at the bar making nervous chit chat with a girl there I happen to know vaguely and she instantly enlists my help saying "be my backup match", "ok" I say, not really sure if that means I am in there or doomed to be, well, not in there at all.
Sigal comes around to each of us and hands out a piece of paper on which I am meant to write down the names of each girl I meet and place a tick next to if I want to see her again and then we begin!
One girl is sitting at the bar with a video camera, "do you mind if I film you? I am doing research for my TV company about dating" she says. Damn not only has she taken my excuse for being there and trumped it but she has managed to make me feel like a complete moron at the same time. I am on the defensive now! "So you aren''t here for speed dating?" I inquire...casually. "Oh yes I am also single" she says. Oi vay! "Er no I would rather you didn''t..." I finish the sentence in my head.
The thing was that she was the cutest one there!
Anyway it took me about 4 little meetings before I was able to warm up and then there were only 2 more, Doh!
So for those of you looking to take your chances in a lottery or add to the attempts at finding that perfect someone, try Speed dating!
Once again this blog post was not about Iran!