Sue Colvil
As a Valentine's Day experiment, we asked two of our colleagues in the Seed office— one man and one woman—to give Chemistry.com a test drive. Ten days after the most romantic day of the year, they've filled out the profiles, rated their relationship priorities, jumped through hoops, juggled with one foot off the ground, rubbed their stomachs and patted their heads at the same time, and, finally, went on a date brokered by the website. Here's how our little experiement turned out:
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Our female dater gets a pleasant surprise
Let me just preface this by saying that anyone who has been reading and (I hope) enjoying this blog is going to be disappointed. I'm disappointed. And confused. But enough about me, and more about my date. He was...cool. Really. In fact, the words "pretty rad" actually escaped my mouth when I was describing him to a friend. What the hell is going on here?
The date is at 7 p.m., so I pre-game it in the office—and by that I mean I instant message furiously with a few friends and read www.thesuperificial.com until it's closer to date time. We're meeting at lounge which citysearch.com tells me is "sexy and romantic" and full of "beautiful people and models." I share this information with my friend, who, when he hears the place's name asks if it's some obscure country in Eastern Europe?" A "sexy and romantic" country! I plan on ordering the most expensive drink on the menu.
On the way over, I mentally prepare to cozy up with a complete stranger amidst candles and velvet drapery. Another friend of mine develops a number of hilarious scenarios such as how I should coordinate with the waitstaff to have them form a semi-circle around us while singing "Happy First Date to You" to the tune of "Happy Birthday," at which point I would pull out a single rose and hand it to may match. A second scenario involved me wearing the matronly eye glasses that have been sitting in the office lost and found for months and immediately upon meeting my date, loudly proclaiming, "Gosh I'm hungry! I haven't had anything to eat all day but gummy bears, and they're stuck to the roof of my mouth." I remember that I've always wanted to toss a martini in a man's face, or really anyone's face, and, muse, that my time may finally have come.
I was the first to arrive at the bar, and to my relief it was far less date-y than the reviews had led me to believe. When my date came in, I recognized him at once—although his picture was not completely accurate. He was actually really nice, and the date wasn't awkward at all. The bar was crowded so we went across the street to a slightly less crowded bar and sat down. As it turns out we went to the same university and have mutual acquaintances. I was glad to hear that, because it gave us something to talk about that wouldn't require a lie (such as where I work).
I was really dreading a conversation about why we were both on Chemistry.com and, basically, anything that might involve the expression "that special someone," but it never came up. He's on the site because they offered him a free trial. I didn't feel like he was looking for anyone seriously, and it never felt like a date so much as hanging out with a friend.