OK, perhaps someone can clarify something for me here, because I’m totally confused on one point:
I think we can all agree (can we?) that a single person talking with a member of the opposite gender for the sake of shidduchim is permitted, correct? After all, that’s what happens on dates all the time.
However, if someone who is in the shidduch parsha just happens to meet someone of the opposite gender that they think they might have an interest in, why shouldn’t the “small talk” be permitted? After all, how else is s/he supposed to determine that this person is/isn’t a potential match?
Or is a shadchan the *only* way to meet someone and if you happen to come across someone in “real life,” you just have to forget it?
The Wolf