Turn the recession into a dating bonanza

By Gavin Shulman | amNewYork Dating Columnist

May 30, 2008

This whole recession thing is hurting your social life, huh? My solution: Throw a party (just make sure your friends chip in for drinks and snacks).

Besides being cheaper than downing $7 beers all night at a bar, a house or apartment setting party is a less awkward place to meet people. If you approach someone at a bar, you're automatically hitting on them.

However, if you talk to someone at a party, you're simply mingling and being friendly. Plus, it's much easier to get to know someone when you don't have to yell.

Not to mention that if you're the one throwing the party, you've already got that someone semi-special back at you're place. You've cut out the middle man! Namely, an awkward always-too-long taxi ride or a mother hen who drags the girl you've been hitting on for the past two hours back to her house instead of yours.

One potential downfall of the party is that only your friends will end up coming. But it doesn't have to be that way. For starters, encourage guests to bring friends from other circles -- work, the gym, a class, whatever.

And if that fails, you can go even more extreme and do what my ready-to-mingle friend Kate did: Throw a "random party," where everyone's required to bring someone completely random.

It's sure to make for an interesting night.

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