Blind Date Part Four: Patrick and Anna

Anna is a second-year neuroscience student who enjoys debates, real ales, a friendly game of tennis and long walks on LadeBraes. Anna met with Patrick O’Hare, our current Student Association President, at the Vic. Patrick is a Social Anthropology and Spanish graduate, and a general lover of a free meal. He’s famed for his long hair and student politics, and in his spare time (what spare time?) he enjoys a good chuckle at the demise of Glasgow Rangers.

Anna on Patrick:

 

Before the date what were you hoping for?

The prospect of a potentially hilarious evening (and a free meal) in exchange for a short write-up was too good to pass up. All I wanted from the evening was a new, amusing experience.

Before the date who were you hoping for?
Being informed of the date just two hours before I was meant to make my appearance at the Vic didn’t leave me much time to speculate. Although dating chat in St Andrews seems to inevitably invite trite “prince charming” clichés, I was searching more for a fun night than for my soulmate/heir to the throne. I certainly didn’t expect to see Monsieur le Président himself.

First impressions?
What can I say? Handsome, charming, relaxed, although given his position, I suppose it wasn’t truly a ‘first impression’.

What did you talk about?
After a brief conversation about Kate Middleton’s hair, the conversation was refreshingly engaging. We debriefed Anthropology at St Andrews and established the true danger that seals pose to the unsuspecting North Sea swimmer. We exchanged jokes about cheese (I’ll admit my repertoire was a bit camem-bare) and chatted about everything from the Arab Spring and the Hungarian revolution, to the triumphs and failures of the Lizard, royal fever, protests, and our favourite spots in St Andrews. Patrick wasn’t outwardly fazed by my sudden inability to form a coherent or eloquent sentence, and was surprisingly well-versed on The Guardian’s blind date feature.

Any awkward moments? Spill something?
None that I noticed, although we were constantly confronted by the uncomfortable reality that we would be spending our post-date moments evaluating each other on a 10 point scale. Maybe the fact that our waiter had forgotten entirely that I was at the table and brought only one dessert menu (which he handed to Patrick) didn’t bode well for the date. Oh well. That said, I take comfort in the fact that my position as one of his constituents means that it would be politically unwise for him to disparage me publicly. Note to Patrick: give our date a good review or expect a protest outside your window on Tuesday. I know where you live now.

Did your date have good table manners? What was the food like?

As expected, Patrick’s table manners were excellent (maybe from all those important presidential dinners) aside from the faux-pas of trying to refill my glass with a corked bottle of wine. In his defence, the lights (bare bulbs surrounded by wire cages) had been dimmed substantially. My Tex-Mex-style veggie burger (complete with guacamole and jalapenos) was delicious.

Would you introduce your date to your friends?
This being St Andrews, there was never really a chance that introductions would be necessary if and when he encountered my friends (and we had successfully established a list of mutual friends/acquaintances early on in the evening). But yes, I suppose I would.

Did you go on somewhere..? Or do you think it’s only awkward glance territory down the vegetable aisle in Tesco?
Our date continued at the Central with mutual friends, and, (not to be too revealing) we did end up at his, drinking Morrison’s finest cream sherry and gazing at the stars until I headed home shortly after 1:00. He is, after all, a busy man.

Did people recognise Patrick? Did other diners realise that you were on a Blind Date?
Being on a date with Patrick O’Hare in St Andrews felt like being George Clooney’s anonymous ‘plus one’ at the Oscars, or maybe even like being out for coffee with Barack Obama. Of course, he seemed to know just about everyone in town, and we did receive a couple of puzzled looks. Did people realise it was a blind date? Maybe. The ‘coincidental’ presence of another sabbatical officer three tables down from ours may have raised a bit of a red flag.

Did Patrick assert his BNOC status?
Aside from the occasional anecdote about the glamorous life as the University Student Association president, Patrick didn’t flaunt his position or even at any point threaten to have me expelled. We did, however, discuss the potential of this date to make or break my journalistic career, depending on my willingness to publish all of the salacious details that emerged over the course of the evening.

Did you enjoy yourself? Whats the Vic like?
Being a native of Portland Oregon, USA, the Vic’s new found hipster vibe almost made me feel at home. The bottle of wine we ordered to share was served to us in water glasses and featured on a wine list that was divided into the confidence-inspiring categories of ‘cheap’, ‘decent’ and ‘good’. Overall, however, the new Vic was fun and relaxing, and the “cool before it was cool” atmosphere did make me feel rather trendy. I can’t wait to return to try my hand at monopoly, connect four, and the other games that we saw on the shelves.

Rate your evening out of ten.
Good company, nice meal, drinks at my favourite pub, plenty of good stories. Patrick lived up to his description by my stand matchmaker as a “great guy”. The evening deserves a solid 9. 

Patrick on Anna:

 

Before the date what were you hoping for?

Being asked one hour before didn’t give me much time to build up expectations! I just kind of hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward!

Before the date who were you hoping for?

I was hoping for a charming dinner partner, whether new acquaintance or some sort of friend, and given the size of St Andrews, I kind of suspected the latter.

First impressions?

I was surprised that I didn’t know Anna! At least, that’s what I thought. I soon worked out that we had met before briefly. First impression was that Anna was lovely but potentially quite shy. Luckily my big mouth did most of the talking!

What did you talk about?

Mmm. We did work our way through the helpful stand list of conversation topics. Especially liked favourite places in St Andrews (I’m more of an East Sands and Aikman’s man; she’s a Central and Lade Braes girl). Not dissimilar but somewhat parallel existences. I was really interested in Anna’s family background, especially the epic journey of her dad’s Hungarian family to get to America.

Any awkward moments?

I did attempt to pour us some wine without taking the cap off the bottle. Otherwise, things went smoothly.

Did your date have good table manners? What was the food like?

I can’t fault Anna’s table manners, although she beats me in the slow eater stakes. She’s a veggie, while I went for the steak.

Would you introduce your date to your friends? Have you made eyes before at the Lizard?

No grinding at the Lizard, we did find out that we had a friend in common, Anna’s flat mate Lucy. Lucy was somewhat disappointed that I wasn’t some attractive new beau; perhaps Anna was as well! I took Lucy’s comment that I was the most ‘present’ president in her years as polite for ‘we see enough of your mullet around town as it is!’.

So you went on somewhere..?

We did meet Lucy and some other friends in the Central for a drink and we all ended up back at mine drinking Sherry and leftover wine from the Central – a great end to the night!

Did other diners realise you were on a blind date? Did the other Sabbs stalk you a bit?

Not sure whether the others thought I was in for a blind date, although the roses were a bit of a giveaway that there was some early Valentines action happening. David Graves and Jules Findley are the most subtle stalkers imaginable. I started to think they genuinely had just ended up there by chance.

The Vic refurb – what do you think?

I feel like I’ve barely been out of there since it re-opened! Very nice interior, although much like Mitchell’s. Cheap, decent and good wine. Is the chicken and bacon sandwich really for a ‘man of simple taste’? That said, perhaps the Union needs to up its game in the face of such competition? And stop getting suckered in by free meals!

Rate your evening out of ten.

A solid 8 out of 10.

 

The stand would like to extend a huge thank you to the kind people at the Vic for the delicious meals and drinks, and of course to our blind-daters Patrick and Anna. Check out the stand’s review of the new Vic. To book a table call 01334 476964.