Date Lab: The great bathroom disappearing act

About the daters ...

Dating history as TV show ...

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Jack: We can sell ad space at $250k per 30 seconds.

Eva: An attractive and intelligent woman finds men on Internet dating sites that all turn out to have photos that are taken 20 years earlier, and their idea of being a social drinker is downing five martinis in the first 30 minutes. Between each date, she tries to tell herself that there are many “real” men out there; she’s just not been lucky.

Happiest when ...

Jack: Enjoying time with friends.

Eva: On the back of a horse.

Interests to share ...

Jack: News, travel, horses, great meals, a passion for cars.

Eva: Humanitarian interests, animal welfare, conservative politics, traveling, cooking and dining, theater, classic rock, enjoying home life.

Chances you’d chat
up a stranger ...

Jack: 70 percent.

Eva: Pretty good as far as talking and enjoying learning about a new person; not so good as far as keeping as a friend.

Your type ...

Jack: A smart head-turner.

Eva: Fairly tall, likes animals and kids, not too possessive, treats people (especially waiters, salespeople, etc.) with respect and kindness, not overweight (doesn’t have to be buff), not a hunter, single, somewhat wordly and definitely not religious

About the date ...

7:30 p.m., American Tap Room, Clarendon

Jack: I got there maybe a little bit before 7:30. I even brought her a flower. I figured I’d try to make a good first impression. She followed maybe 10 or 15 minutes later.

Eva: This was my first blind date. I don’t do much dating but went into this with an open and hopeful mind. I got there at 7:30.

Jack: Looks were okay, demeanor ... it was like she was looking down at the whole thing. [My type is] a little bit younger, usually a brunette. When she sat down, the first thing out of her lips was, “You know these things, most of them fail; we can’t expect too much out of this.” I just thought it was a funny way to start a conversation.

Eva: I don’t recall stating anything about these dates not working out. I did mention that this is a lot like a lottery: “You can’t win if you don’t play.” My first impression, however, was that this one would not work out. I thought, you know, We’ll see what happens. Unfortunately, my feelings were validated as time went by.

Jack: The waiter brought my drink and took her order. I tried to move [the conversation] around a little bit. She brought out that she enjoys riding horses. I enjoy horseback riding, too. She said, “Well, I ride dressage; there’s no comparison.” Just trying to set it apart. I said, “Well, that’s okay, don’t you ever just get on a horse and ride it just to ride it?” And she says, “No, that wouldn’t be right.” It sounded like she enjoyed being with a horse more than a human.

Eva: He indicated he knew a lot about horses; however, he had never heard of dressage or three-day eventing. I have ridden horses for many years; that is my passion. I am currently leasing a wonderful dressage horse.

Jack: We got onto movies. We talked politics a little bit. We were both Republicans. I thought that was good.

Eva: We did speak a bit about the election; I was very surprised that he was unaware of the Romney “47 percent” gaffe, although professing to listen to a lot of news.