By Yakira Cohen
Features editor
@CohenYakira
When junior government and politics and psychology major Tammy Soleymani arrived at the Maryland Dairy Tuesday afternoon for her blind date, she was surprised to meet not a new person, but a familiar face. Daniel Ben-Or, a freshman finance and computer science major, instantly recognized her from working close by on campus and from around the community. Mitzpeh decided that the two who “work hard” should “play hard” too, and when matching them on a date, instructed them to locate one another by performing a series of jumping jacks to counter the ice-cream calories. Here is their story:
What was your first impression of your date?
Tammy: A giant whiff of cologne that was reminiscent of every Middle Eastern guy, that instantly reminded me of all of my “uncles” and other distant relatives.
Daniel: I kinda knew her already from Kedma and I always just passed her in the hallway on the way to work…I would just pass, wave and then keep going, but I never actually had a real conversation.
How did doing jumping jacks prior to the date influence your experience?
T: As a very proper lady, I would never do jumping jacks in public and diminish myself like that. I definitely felt the ice cream expanding in my stomach and I didn’t have the jumping jacks to help burn it away. It also stopped me from flashing the entire Stamp, so I’m glad I didn’t do it.
D: It kinda went in the wrong order. I saw her and and then I started doing jumping jacks.
What did your date’s order say about their personality?
T: All he got was a single scoop of cookie dough, and I think it shows that he just can’t think outside of the box. He also didn’t take advantage of the [Mitzpeh Matchmaker] reimbursement limit. I clearly chose the more expensive thing I could get in order to really make good use of this.
D: She got a chocolate chip and cookie dough shake, which I think it says her personality is very vanilla. Both flavors have a lot of vanilla in them.
How would you rate your date, on a scale of one to how much you love the Mitzpeh?
T: That implies that I love the Mitzpeh…I can’t answer that question.
D: I don’t think I ever really read the Mitzpeh, in that case I would give it an…it was alright.
What surprised you?
T: How much cologne one person thought they actually needed to put on.
D: Honestly our conversation didn’t really go anywhere, it was more like an interview than a date, very formal.
What did you talk about?
T: We spent a lot of time talking about the University of Maryland and all the clubs he’s a part of in the University of Maryland and why he loves the University of Maryland….I kind of think we were on a date with University of Maryland as our third wheel.
D: As in most interviews, we talked about our majors, our goals for the future, our plans for the summer, we talked about Chicago where she’s from and Baltimore where I’m from…
What do you think your kids would be like?
T: Dark. Very dark. That’s why I only date white guys.
D: They would definitely be brown and very loud and vocal about their opinions.
Do you think you will go out again?
T: As I mentioned, for the sake of making sure we have a diverse world full of mixed-raced babies, I will only date white guys. Therefore my answer has to be ‘no.’
D: No. I’m pretty sure I was the one carrying the conversation.
How has this date changed your life?
T: I don’t know if I’ll ever get my sense of smell back.
D: The calories from the ice cream have made me a whole pound heavier.
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