In the News: Quiet Parties, Dark Parties: Is This the Way to Date?

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Quiet Parties, Dark Parties: Is This the Way to Date?

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From New York to Beijing, "quiet parties" are gaining popularity. No loud music, no yelling, no cell phones and . . . no talking! Pencil and paper are provided in the "quiet room"—usually an upscale bar or club where you would normally have to shout to be heard above the din—and singles mingle by jotting down notes and passing them back and forth.

"It gives people time to reflect on what you're saying," says Paul Rebhan, who started the idea of quiet parties back in November 2003. So what are they saying? He can't speak for all, but Rebhan says he's heard of guys getting good results passing notes like, "Hey, you're really cute. Want to go talk somewhere?"

Others trying to get past the "beauty-is-skin-deep" dilemma are trying another dating fad: Dinner-in-the-Dark parties. For $100 one can feast on a five-course tasting menu and make small talk with other singles in complete darkness, while being served by waiters wearing night-vision goggles.

"You really have to discover each other through conversation," says Jerome Chasques, who came up with the idea. The lights come on during dessert. Hopefully you discover your previously unseen tablemate is still interesting in the light (Source: Comcast News, June 9, 2005).

Without moral guidelines, many people are left to dating choices and strategies that look more like not-so-real "reality shows" than the happy true reality God wants for each of us. For some really good advice about dating, be sure to keep reading Vertical Thought and go online to verticalthought.org for our archives on dating, marriage and family.