Start Talking, You Have 15 Minutes

Results of a survey conducted by It’s Just Lunch, a dating service in L.A. and Newport Beach:

* On a first date, the majority of men make up their mind in 15 minutes about whether they’re interested in a woman. Women take an average of 60 minutes.

* Men prefer a first date to last 30 to 60 minutes while women prefer 60-90 minutes.

* Ninety-four percent of men and 81% of women said they do not date co-workers. But 40% of men and 38% of women admitted having done so.

* The chances that one of the participants on a first date will ask for a second date after 24 hours: 1 in 8.

* Seventy percent of women and 64% of men prefer meeting for lunch or drinks as a first date. Most women prefer lunch; most men prefer drinks. Most men aren’t very subtle.

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EASTER TREES? Stores often advertise specials on Christmas cards and gift wrapping after the holiday. But until I received a clipping from Ellen Pearson, I never knew that there were businesses selling Christmas trees after Christmas (see exhibit below).

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WHAT ABOUT A LEASE? After L.A. and Orange County freeway junctions were named among the worst in the nation, several solutions for relieving congestion were advanced here, some as radical as making all traffic go one way, toward the north. My colleague Steve Emmons reminds me that Will Rogers had another proposal to thin out the roadways: No one can drive his or her car until it’s paid for.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.