this weekend friends form ireland paid a visit. as luck would have it, during the week a girl on twitter offered me a quadruple burrito date! so, spreading the burrito love in more ways than one, we managed to fit in a group burrito date in the middle of a long beery blurry day.
we met at 5pm on saturday afternoon and took the burritos to a near by park. in the end three girls came; jen was joined by louise, a work colleague at london school of economics, and their friend police officer karen. i was accompanied by donal, and mark (3 single guys). richard (another) and ruaidhri joined us in the park towards the end of the date i mention this only because a bird from the tree above shat on richard’s shirt! (unlucky number 13!?)
got all that? so how did it go.. well, first i have to explain how the date came about. jen and louise had made a slight complaint on twitter about chilango, in true excellent customer service fashion, chilango responded by apologising and sending burritos to the entire office! (this isn’t an open invite to complain btw!). mr. chilango, also suggested the girls go for a burrito date with me.
the big fan of chilango that i am, i gave the girls a bit of stick about complaining. ok, enough of the logistics. a group date was a new format, just as i was getting used to and enjoying the one on one date. although, i will probably avoid friends (girls and my own) on dates in future, this date was interesting.
jen asked most of the questions for the girls, and then louise answered our questions. karen seemed to lack interest, which was expected as she was dragged in as a last minute replacement, and was busy keeping an eye out for misbehaving youths in the park (;-). donal was our anchor, playing ‘just a minute quiz’ with the girls in the same vein as his hero, irish radio show host larry gogan. (i love the wikipedia example given for the quiz: question from february 2006: what famous irish star is followed by travellers? joe dolan). he really didn’t give mark or myself a chance!
we had a chat about twitter, all the guys think it’s pointless and openly laugh at me for ‘wasting my time’. jen and louise love it though, and so it was good to have some support in this re-occurring ‘point of twitter’ argument.
we all agreed the burritos were great, and that we wouldn’t be complaining this time! and so off we went to separate parties. a wasted date? no, i enjoyed it and i hope everyone else did as well. but with 13 down and 39 to go i am hoping for my luck to change…
52 burrito dates 
I must say I had a good time and glad that we suggested beers in the park – an ideal setting for a group date, which I kind of liked as I then had someone to ask ‘was it me or did he not talk much’ at the end.
Donal saved the day by putting a smile on our face by his open & friendly personality… Great quiz we will be sure to pass it on. Mark is definitely the mysterious type and it was a shame we didn’t get the chance to find out more about him. Richard, I agree with you that you should stick to a one on one date I think this was too overwhelming and made you retreat to your past shy ways….
Well after the boys had seen the London sites of No.10 and Buckingham palace during the day we are glad we were not a dull London attraction
and I wish the three of you well on your search….
I really like this blog and think it is such a good idea, so I was very excited when Jen managed to organise it. I haven’t been on a ‘blind’ date before so was a little nervous and was glad that it was a group thing.
I felt like Jen and I started on a bit of a back foot with Richard, as he didn’t seem impressed that we complained about Chilangos – which for the record we both LOVE! (would like to reiterate kids, I wouldn’t recommend you complain to get a free burritto or a date with Richard. It’s not cool and its not clever!) But I think as the date went on and after we explained ourselves we all had fun with the quiz.
Even though the group situation eased the pressure at the start of the date, I definitely missed having a good conversation and actually getting to know the boys as I think we only scratched the surface…
I would be interesting to hear Donal and Mark’s thoughts….
I would have to say that the date in the park was a great experience and a lot of fun! A few beers , great company and delicious chilangos made for the ideal setting!Its always interesting to meet new peoplebut agree with Karen in that a date with be more suited to a one to one session! This would give each person a chance to get the word in. But after 13 dates for my great friend richard it is cool to see that his concept is working and I believe that he wont have to wait too many more dates until someone falls for his charm!
ha ha dona, richard obviously told you to say that last bit at the end!!!!!!!
ha ha james, it’s donal i think he left out the L by mistake, and yes i rewarded him handsomely
That bit of Joe Dolan trivia, cracked me up. Love your blog. I think the group dates are a good idea, will attract the girls who wouldnt go on a blind date on their own, it also adds a touch of the speed dating element and you get your friends to do the vetting too. but there is a risk that they might end up with the “best” girl.
All I want to know, who’s the tall hunk in the S&D t-shirt?!
Shut your face fish, what a shit t-shirt.