Hello, my name is Brittani. I am 20 years old and am attracted to men who read books and understand the international section of the newspaper. I am very single. I can count the number of dates I have been on while residing in Rexburg on two hands, but what can I do about it?

I know this is not my fault. I’m redheaded, fun, a little crazy and I can cook, even though last weekend’s dark chocolate no-bake cookies and kidney bean Kiev were not hits. I don’t understand why my number of dates hasn’t increased to at least five hands. But if I am 23 when I get married I am sure the world will keep on turning.

I haven’t reached advanced stages of desperateness, and when I went speed dating in the Manwaring Center in February I didn’t want to appear so. For cover, I asked for an assignment to write a column about the phenomenon. So I grabbed my press pass and hid behind it while I went on eight six-minute dates.

Speed dating isn’t the concoction of some man-hungry BYU-Idaho co-ed. It is actually taking the world by storm. The world’s singles are enjoying a dating scene where they can meet a lot of people in one night without having to deal with the pressure of traditional dates.

So there I sat at Table 16 with my press pass, my notebook and my “little black book” made of colored paper as men moved down the line and plopped in front of me.

I listened to a lot of jokes, answered a lot of questions, threw skittles at nearby couples and mixed green and pink play dough together. At first it was swirls of green and pink, then the play dough became a pukish brown, reminiscent of the six-minute experience I had with the man who thought we should mix them together.

That’s the beauty of the whole situation. If you weren’t enjoying your date, he was gone in six minutes. Even though those six minutes may have been the longest of your life, at least it wasn’t the longest three hours of your life.

I was amazed at the lack of awkward silences and the outgoing nature of the people. I haven’t been that free of inhibition since high school.

Speed dating is for those with the confidence to meet eight random people and carry on a conversation. Not for those who want to find an eternal companion. I am still hopelessly single, but I haven’t given up on the cooking thing.

This weekend’s black bean soup and biscuits were fabulous. I just feel bad for all the young men who missed out.