Blind Bears Recap: Max and Mary

Meeting someone for the first time can be scary, no matter the context. Whether you're going to office hours, meeting your randomly-assigned freshman roommate, or doing a Skype interview, that initial interaction can be pretty freaky. What do they think of me? Is there something on my face? Am I a catfish? Etc.That's why it's so brave of Brown students to fill out our blind bears dating app. And almost 300 of you applied! Way to be bold, Brunonia.This large number of applicants indicated more than Brown's general ~*spiciness*~. The enthusiastic response also clued Blog in to a trend we sometimes fail to recognize: a lot of students want to go on dates. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is just looking to hook up.Well, I suppose it's also possible that people wanted free coffee. But anyway...Enter Max and Mary, two sophomores willing to go out on a limb and take a stab at the whole blind date thing. Max, a STEM concentrator whose "likes" include music and smoking weed, "decided to fill out the app to try to be anonymously honest about who I am in the hopes I'd be matched with someone with similar likes and interests. Mostly it was on a whim." Mary, an Econ concentrator who is always crazy busy, agreed to go on the date after some prompting from her roommate. When asked why she agreed to it, she explained that "I think it's a fun way to get off campus and do something different. It's always nice to do something other than go to the Ratty and study."One cold December evening, Max and Mary met at Tea in Sahara, an anonymous little spot on Governor Street. Side note: if you are looking for a quiet, no-frills place to meet someone without the open windows and general gawkiness of Thayer, this cafe just might be the place.But back to the date: Max said Mary seemed "nice, cute, just as clueless as me as far as what we were doing there together, or so it seemed." Mary added that "Although it was kind of awkward at first, I actually had a lot of fun."Max admitted that the "conversation was awkward," but surprisingly, they "found that our friend groups had quite a bit of overlap." He enjoyed the date, but ultimately he could tell she wasn't super into it and "there wasn't a huge amount of connection that got beyond normal small talk." Mary felt pretty similarly. But even though she didn't feel a deep connection with Max, "it was a cool opportunity to meet someone new and learn more about their life. I always love meeting new people, and this was a fun way to do it. "When asked about the hook-up culture at Brown, Mary explained that it usually encompasses "Going out to a party, meeting someone, hooking up, potentially seeing them again," but overall, she said, you never really make plans that revolve around anything other than hooking up. She added that the culture "usually involves alcohol. [It's] definitely more prevalent than relationships, but I think few people are ever satisfied with the hook-up culture. Not saying that Brown should have a 'relationship culture,' but just hooking up can make it hard for things to lead to a relationship."Although these two may not have been soulmates, Max isn't turned off by blind dates. On the contrary, when I asked him if he would try another, he answered, "I would! Once again, why not? Nothing to lose, really." Mary also said she would definitely go on a blind date again.Are you interested in a blind date from the love wizards @ Blog? Let us set you up. Let us set up your roommate, your TA, that kid down your hall. We LOVE love. Happy two-days-after-V-Day, y'all.