Match Me If You Can
Basher
Fantastically well-travelled and thoroughly-pierced, Basher was a unique prospective date. He enjoys participating in as wide a range of drama as possible, from modern drama to Shakespeare to Classicsthemed operetta. He enjoys conversing with “intelligent, nice people,” and his ideal date would be in a sushi restaurant in a beautiful foreign city.
JP
With such a varied array of hobbies, it’s surprising that J.P. has time for such frivolities as blind-dating. He swims, cycles and runs, as well as more sedate activities such as reading and watching films. He also likes to practise his culinary skills, which include cake-decoration. Apparently quite a romantic, he describes his ideal date as “a lovely meal somewhere pretty, ending with a kiss.”
Mark - REJECTED!
Any blind-dater will be glad to enjoy the company of chatty Mark. Informed and intelligent, banter never strays far from witty. A snappy dresser and a dedicated Bolton Wanderers fan; Mark keeps his interests varied. From tennis to architecture, he is always able to find common ground and is consistently at ease with new people.
The Decision
Initially, both contestants seemed to stand an equal chance of being chosen: J.P. described Mark as a “lovely guy, really nice.” However, he was concerned that they had “different interests,” which put Basher in the lead as they had “a bit in common”. The final seal of victory for Basher was his height; J.P. said that he usually goes for tall men.
All three participants arrived punctually this evening, making a nice change from last week when one of the contestants didn’t arrive at all. But it hadn’t looked promising earlier in the day, when our original threesome were struck down by such various ailments as essay crises and gastric flu. We were finally able to find three lovely chaps who were willing to give blind-dating a try. Mark was first up for the challenge, having the usual half-hour to win over tonight’s chooser, J.P.
When his time was up, he reported that J.P. “seemed like a really nice guy, friendly… we got on well, I think.” J.P. was equally complimentary, describing Mark as “cute, funny and a good talker.” When asked what his feelings would be if he was rejected, Mark said that “it’d be disappointing, but Basher seems like a nice guy,” and it seems that J.P. certainly thought so too. Having got along brilliantly during their drinks-date/interrogation, J.P.
chose (tall) Basher as his dinner companion. (Goodheighted) Mark was cheerful in defeat, saying that the experience “was really fun, I enjoyed it a lot,” and that he would definitely go on a blind date again (which is lucky, seeing as he’ll be doing the choosing next week!). So now for dinner, where the expectant pair decided to get to know each other better over a pizza.
Remarkably, we have only positive remarks to report; this week represents yet another amazing Match Me success! Good-date indicator number one, conversation, scores highly. Both daters reported a conversation that flowed well. Basher jokes that J.P. even “makes medicine sound interesting”, which we assume is a compliment of the highest order! And what of good-date indicator number two • common interests? Again, J.P.
and Basher proved themselves a winning pair • both are interested in the theatrical side of Oxford life, and both have plays in the pipeline. Watch out for Basher in ‘Orpheus in the Underworld’, while J.P. entertains in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. This brings us to our third and final good-date check, the acid test that can make or break the aspiring match maker; will the pair be seeing each other again? Fortunately, we have heard a resounding “Yes” on both sides.
Which means all we have to do now is sit back and watch this space.
26th May 2005