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Blind Date: “He offered to buy me a drink but I politely declined.”

Megan Healy and James Hartley bond over a shared dislike of spice

Megan Healy,First Year, Biochemistry, Corpus Christi

Going into the date I was very ner- vous, as this isn’t the kind of thing I normally do. I arrived and spotted my date who was unmistakeable on the basis that he was standing alone outside of the pub. Things got off to a good start as we chatted about colleges, sports, JCR committees – standard Oxford chat. James offered to buy me my drink, which was kind, but I politely declined (#feminism). We were soon interrupted by a large group of rowdy men who made it impossible to sustain small talk, so we moved elsewhere. Conversation flowed well over dinner as we avoided awkward silences by complaining about how spicy our food was. After three hours had passed the date drew to a natural conclusion and James politely walked me back to Corpus. Overall I was pleased that the night wasn’t an awkward disaster – in fact, I enjoyed it.

First impressions?

I liked that he had made an effort and wore a white shirt.

Quality of the chat?

Decent, but no sparks flying.

Most awkward moment?

Saying goodbye. To hug or not to hug?

Kiss or miss?

Miss.

James Hartley, Second Year, PPE, Worcester

Overall the date was really cute. I didn’t realise I had been signed up and we were both (I think) relieved to find that the other person was normal. Megan informed me early on that she was a massive lightweight and went straight for the half pint. She is massively into travelling so we talked a lot about places we had been and where she wanted to go in the future. I struggled a little bit to find common ground as we did not really share any interests or taste in music. However, with the exception of rowing periodically slipping its way in and a bit of classic ‘gap yah’ chat she was quite funny and interesting. There were never any awkward silences. Indeed, apart from a group of absolutely binned men throwing stuff around and harassing the bar staff, everything went pretty well. After that we bailed and went to get Thai food and a few more drinks.

First impressions?

She was very polite and confident.

Quality of the chat?

Pretty good overall, with the exception of rowing.

Most awkward moment?

Weirdly, I didn’t do anything too socially awkward for a change.

Kiss or miss?

No shared interests, so miss.

 

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