Blind date sparks friendship

Blind dates are often seen as random, the awkward meeting of two students with nothing to talk about, no similarities, and may come from very different social groups. Yet sometimes, these dates can have a much happier ending. 

On Aug. 30, junior Gino Calairo and senior Rachel Perera met up at the school for a blind date and then went out to dinner. They have previously only talked maybe once or twice, but their friends, senior Jennifer Ho and senior Akiko Gillot, who attends Los Gatos, thought it would be a good idea to set them up. 

They first went to Pinkberry, but Perera’s friends, Ho and Gillot, who knew when and where the date was taking place, were waiting there for her.

“My friends happened to be at Pinkberry when we walked in so that was awkward,” Perera said.

Since Perera’s friends were there, they decided to go next door to Chipotle instead. 

“He got chips and I got a burrito bowl, and he told me to dip the chips in the burrito bowl,” Perera said. “It was actually really good.” 

After their dinner, they stopped by Verde, a pearl milk tea cafe. 

“He was really nice because I didn’t have enough money, but he paid for it,” Perera said.

As they headed back to school from their dinner, Perera found her car Saran-wrapped by the same friends who had staked out Pinkberry to watch her date.

“I was really surprised to came back and find my car Saran-wrapped. It was pretty funny, though,” Perera said.

Perera said she enjoyed the outing.

“He was easy to talk to and a sweet guy. There was a lot of food, so there’s nothing wrong with that,” Perera said.

Calairo agreed with Perera that the night went well.

“There’s nothing to complain about,” Calairo said. “She was fun to talk to, and it was nice to make a new friend.”

The two agreed that they would go out again. 

“At the beginning of the date, I thought it was going to be awkward because we both didn’t really know each other, but it was super relaxed so it was nice,” Perera said.

Perera rated the date 4.5/5 and Calairo rated it 5/5.

“It was a good way to spend a Friday night,” Perera said.