The Coffee Date

According to the last US Census Report, 46.4% of adults in the US are single. That’s a massive number, roughly 120M people. With that, comes a plethora of statistics about chances of compatibility, percent matches, amount of people available, etc. Those statistics can be somewhat objective but somewhat subjective as well, leading many to think there are minimal opportunities to find someone. This shouldn’t be the way we think. 

Instead, think in numbers. How can we give ourselves the most opportunities while being the most efficient with our time? This is how we can ideate the best ideas for date nights.

Dating apps = accessibility to more people (30% of adults in US use a dating app). Accessibility = more dates. More dates = time spent on dates = more money spent on dates. So again, how can we spend more time in person, away from the phone, being more efficient, spending less money, and overall finding some matches?

Recently, I’ve been watching How I Met Your Mother, a comedy series showing the dating world in NYC. One of the characters Barney, comes up with a system called The Lemon Law. The Lemon Law states that you have 5-minutes in person to know whether you could match with the person. Now 5-minutes is a bit short, but we can certainly make it 20-30 minutes. If that person doesn’t seem like a match, walk away, respectfully of course. Even though not the most mannerly, it certainly can make you have more efficient dates.

So what’s a good idea? Answer, The Coffee Date. The Coffee Date matches all the criteria we are looking for. Firstly, most people like, need, and want coffee or at least some form of order at a coffee shop. Coffee takes limited time to drink with most people grabbing and going or needing to be out of coffee shop relatively quickly. It is relatively cheap. It’s in a communal place. Finally, amongst other things, the expectations can be set from when you set the date. Both parties know upfront that you have a short amount of time to make a good first impression. This, in my opinion, is a great way to see more people while being efficient in narrowing down your options through “The Lemon Law”.

The other option(s), dinner and/or drinks. We all know how much of a disaster this can be. Stuck at a restaurant or bar with no way out, trying as hard as you can to initiate more conversation, praying every second passes by faster or waiting for a friend to call. On top of that, its expensive.

To add to the impactfulness of The Coffee Date, you should think about what you have to do to be successful. Because you have to be confident in who you are in a short amount of time, you can remain confident throughout. If it doesn’t work out, on to the next. There is nothing wrong with that. You didn’t waste much time. The person wasn’t going to be a match. You didn’t spend much. You don’t have to feel bad about it not working out. Even if you are faking it, you know the other person isn’t the one for you.

To give a great first impression in 20-minutes, you must be on your game. The only way to do that is to be confident in your abilities. You can make it about every aspect of your life. Think of every conversation you can have in your life (professional, social, buying something, etc.). Make your time efficient. Make people show who they are by using The Lemon Law. If you have minimal time to show the best you, you are definitely going to focus on being the best most confident you.

Let me know if there is a topic you want to hear about, types of stories you want to hear, or anything else you need help with. Everything is in confidence and with anonymity.

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-TCM