Usually, two people meeting for a blind date have lots of questions for each other. But when Jemar, 32, met Betty, 27, at the East Village seafood restaurant Bait & Hook, the questions came from a third party. On the evening of their blind date, the restaurant was also hosting a trivia night. Jemar and Betty ended up playing together — but were there any winners in this night of fun and games?
He said:
It happened that Wednesday is trivia night at Bait & Hook, so Betty and I decided to play while getting to know each other.
Betty is easy on the eyes and intelligent. We discussed politics, travel and much more. I even got a brief French lesson from her, since I’m going to Montreal.
As for trivia, our team name was Blind Date, and we dominated. The host changed our name to “Best Blind Date Ever” and we won a gift certificate to the venue, which was great, because the mussels and lobster-mac we shared were good.
After dinner, we ended up at Union Square Park, where we talked more and did some people-watching. The park closed, and we realized it was almost midnight. We exchanged numbers, and will hang out again — but probably on a platonic level.
She said:
I arrived early at Bait & Hook, so I ordered a margarita, while looking out for Jemar. When he walked through the door I noticed he was well-dressed — and not bad to look at either.
Coincidentally, it was trivia night. Since we both have a competitive spirit, we played — and got to know each other.
I really admire Jemar’s ambition. He spoke of his past experience as the president of the Urban League chapter in New York. Travel and other topics also came up.
With mostly my help, we won trivia night! Overall, I had a good time, but I see the relationship being more platonic than romantic.