For the third instalment of Blind Date, we set up a charming darts athlete with Durham’s fittest fresher. After lots of rearranging due to illness and fashion show obligations, these two were finally able to bond over a mutual love of daytime tele and Mario Kart in Flat White…
| Max: | Cyd: |
| ‘As first impressions go, Cyd certainly made a good one. Besides her being so attractive that I almost wished my mates were there, just to see the look on their faces, she also managed to make the usually awkward initial small talk, not awkward in the slightest. In fact, despite the fact that we were stuck out in the cold for at least ten minutes, waiting for Flat White to be so kind as to let us sit indoors, the conversation never seemed to lull. I wasn’t too perturbed by her being a fresher. After all, as those who know me will testify, I have a tendency not to act my age. That being said, when she told me she didn’t drink tea or coffee, to which I responded something along the lines of, ‘you’ll enjoy it as you get older’, I did start to question whether I was a bit too long in the tooth for her. As the date progressed it became clear that, despite obvious differences in our preferences for hot drinks, we were actually quite well matched. We each had a genuine interest in what the other had to say and it all seemed very comfortable, as if we’d known each other for a while. She shared my enthusiasm for shite daytime tele and Durham in the winter, as well as a mutual dislike of Loft. Quite frankly it was the best date I’d had in a while. I probably shouldn’t have alluded to how well I thought it was going, during the date. However, as with most of the slightly unusual first date conversation topics I came out with that day, she took it in her stride. After an hour and a half or so, we called time on what had been an enjoyable first encounter. Unfortunately, the next time I saw her was when she passed me on the way down to Wiff Waff, saying as she went that her and her friends were off to Jimmy’s. If I had a little less pride and a lot more courage I probably would have dragged my mates there too. Alas, maybe I’ll run into her next term?’ | ‘Due to Max being ill, we didn’t meet up until the third-time rescheduling. I was a bit worried he’d taken one look on Facebook and had some second thoughts, but I remain a trusting person and I’m sure he was just having a prolonged case of fresher’s flu! This is the first blind date I’d ever been on so the butterflies in my tummy would not stop when walking down from Hatfield. We decided to do a day date (yes, shock horror, people can meet sober) and he chose Flat White which I thought was a good choice (tick, tick). We met outside in the classic too long Flat White queue with a big hug. He was wearing a big red puffer with a checked shirt underneath. I liked that he’d made an effort. We started off with classic questions which, being a fresher, I’ve asked about a thousand times- what year are you in, which college, which course etc. From there it was easy! Conversation just flowed and there were no awkward silences or even any pauses whatsoever. When we (finally) got into flat white we sat down and carried on the myriad of topics ranging from Durham’s sport culture to our childhoods playing Mario Kart, to deeper stuff about our Phone Lead society. Max was effortlessly funny, constantly adding to the conversation with a never-ending stream of funny anecdotes. We were there for hours and it went by really fast. He offered to pay which kept up with his gentlemanly nature and then we departed off on our separate ways. Although Max couldn’t have been a better person to have my first blind date with, (get ready for a cliché) I didn’t feel a ‘spark’ and so I don’t think my first Durham romance will be on the cards with him. However, it’s nice to have another friendly face when ordering sweet potato fries in Paddy’s.’ |
A week later: Despite there being no sign of a second date on the cards, we remain hopeful that romance could blossom between these two in Epiphany term.
If you want to get involved and be set up on a blind date, please email sex@thebubble.org.uk.