“And, if Cupid was smiling on me, [I hoped for] a romantic spark”
The Oxford Blue Blind Dates have begun!
I would love to say that our first round of dates started off with a bang (not that kind of bang…get your head out of the gutter) but I’m afraid they have started off with more of a wet plop.
For our first mystery date, the blind daters had rather different expectations for their night at Colombia Coffee Roasters by Covered Market. The Somervillian approached the date cautiously with “kind of low expectations”; she admitted to The Blue that she was “hoping to feel a spark”. Meanwhile, the Mertonian had much higher hopes that “Cupid” would be “smiling on” him but would settle for an “enjoyable conversation getting to know someone”.
As it turns out, Cupid must have been a bit delayed arriving at Colombia Coffee Roasters. Both parties were standing around for “like five minutes” until they realised they were there to meet the other. One party first noticed their date’s “lovely curly hair” and a “very cool necklace” they were wearing. The other suspected that their date was across the room and settled on a first impression of them as “being scared to approach [them]”.
The “awkward” beginning of the date had begun to fizzle out as the conversation turned to the sheer amount of mutuals they shared. However, for one dater this was a sign of some potential future issues. Specifically, they felt that the other party would be more suited to some of their friends! (Sidenote: I will now have a serious pep talk with the Editors-in-Chief about their matchmaking…)
The date had highlights, particularly when discussions featured the various fancy dress outfits they had seen at previous subject dinners. Unfortunately, I must break the news that one party seemed to have found more highlights than the other. An offer of a second date for dinner was declined because they felt they “didn’t really click”. Ah well, a chilly ending to our first blind date – not least because they had to sit outside in the cold in the Covered Market! Nonetheless, not all was lost, as one blind dater informed The Blue that she would return again soon for a cup of hot chocolate, tempted by the “great range of drinks” on offer at Colombia Coffee Roasters. So, despite the fact that love did not come out of The Blue this time, perhaps a friendship (and a new location for hot chocolate) did, and I’m sure that both blind daters will meet again through their extensive mutuals.