Mr Roger Red Hat

Location: Pub

Length of Date: 2 hours 30 mins

Number of Drinks: 3

Compatibility Rating: 5/10

I have always been resolutely against blind dates. I mean you wouldn't test drive a car without having at least seen it - so why would you go and meet a potential partner without viewing the goods?! (I am aware that I may sound slightly superficial here....my flatmate certainly thinks so!) And in the days of Facebook/Twitter/Instagram etc, I really see no need for anyone to meet completely blind.

However, this date occured prior to the social network era (this makes me sound extermely old, however it was actually only about 5 years ago!). My friend decided that she would set me up with someone that worked in her office. Being youngish and newly single, I was naive to the dating game and happy to give it a go. We met in a local pub and from the outset I got the impression we weren't particularly suited. But still, I was determined to keep an open mind, so we got our drinks (a LARGE glass of wine please) and sat down to 'get to know each other'. Having told him that I was a primary school teacher, his first comment was 'Oh, so you must know all about Roger Red Hat?!' (He was unusually excited by this prospect....I was a little worried, what with him being a 25 year old man.....) I had never heard of Roger Red Hat....but given that it was a reading series that stopped being used by primary schools in the 1980s, I wasn't overly harsh on myself. However Mr Roger Red Hat (as my blind date is now known as) did know ALL about the series....knowledge which he proceeded to impart throughout the whole date - which was only about 2 hours, but 2 hours I will never ever get back........However, if anybody needs any information about Roger Red Hat, Billy Blue Hat, Johnny and Jennifer Yellow Hat or Percy Green Hat, then I'm now well versed in the topic! Little did I know that 5 years later, this would be classed as a relatively normal date........