美国国家公共电台 NPR A Love Story That Began With A Matchmaker And A First Date On NPR

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We have an update on a story we brought you that was part of our online dating series, What Makes Us Click. Rachel, you remember last year I told you about this woman here in Southern California. She had hired a matchmaker when she had gotten just totally fed up with all the dating apps.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I do. I do remember that. I also remember that service was really expensive.

GREENE: Like, super expensive. The woman, Kat McClain, paid $6,000 for this service. So the first guy she got set up with was Kevin Biely, and they actually let us come and record their first date.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

KAT MCCLAIN: I bet you at least a few people here think we're famous.

KEVIN BIELY: Exactly, right? So I grew up in a military family, so we bounced around a little bit when I was young.

MCCLAIN: Yeah. I am also a military brat¹.

GREENE: OK. So here's the update - Kat and Kevin got married this month.

MARTIN: Come on.

GREENE: I'm totally serious. I caught up with them before their big day. They came into the studio. And, you know, because we love to make things as awkward as possible, we had them listen back to some of that initial date.

What is it like hearing that?

BIELY: That's a little strange (laughter).

MCCLAIN: It's very strange. You know, I think in a way we kind of still sound like that, out and about on the town these days but just more comfortable.

BIELY: Yeah, exactly.

GREENE: I mean, you came together with Three Day Rule, the matchmaking service we were doing the story on. How much credit do you give them for bringing the two of you together, and to what extent do you think it might have happened even without them?

MCCLAIN: I don't think we would have met if not for them. I think - I had a weird² dating app strategy and honestly, like, didn't go out with anyone who was under 6 feet tall. And you don't know Kevin that well, but he's under 6 feet tall.

GREENE: OK.

MCCLAIN: So he would have been, like, an instant elimination³ without me even, like, looking through his profile or the pictures. Like, it just wouldn't have mattered.

GREENE: You would just look at height and be like, eh.

MCCLAIN: Yeah. And then I think that the other thing I really credit them for is putting us in a place where we were on the same page from the very beginning.

BIELY: Yeah. It's the same experience for me. I mean, like, we were on similar apps. I mean, there's - it's probably theoretically possible that we could have crossed paths but, you know, probably not all that likely, and just because we kind of had, again, a head start, like, it just made everything that came after it so much easier was.

GREENE: Was there any stigma⁴ at all or if you had any reactions from friends that didn't like about meeting this way?

BIELY: I mean, I think if anything it was quite the opposite. I think, like, meeting through something exotic like a matchmaker almost carries a certain cachet - I mean, especially just because, you know, everybody's got a story of someone they swiped right on or they met in a bar. But we don't know anybody, I think, really, that kind of met in this kind of way. So we're kind of that one couple that did that so far.

MCCLAIN: I think the only negative responses I ever got were about how much it cost. Like, I can't believe you paid that much to do it. And I'm like, trust me. Kevin is worth every single penny and then some.

GREENE: That's really sweet.

MCCLAIN: (Laughter).

GREENE: So we sent you these questions for you to answer separately. You don't know what each other's answers are, which is kind of awesome⁵. I'll start with Kevin. Before you went on your first date, did you think you'd be engaged within a year's time?

BIELY: So honest answer is no. Sure, in a vague and aspirational⁶ way, I knew I was ready to be settled down, but I really thought that that was far off, if ever. I think I was more in the headspace of being single permanently⁷ with something I really wanted to commit to and what that would look like.

GREENE: OK. Kat, before your first date, did you think you'd be engaged within a year?

MCCLAIN: No. I actually said I wish they could see me laughing about how absurd that would have sounded to me. Basically, for me, this was a last-ditch effort to meet someone before I bought some more cats and started telling people I never wanted to get married anyway. I didn't expect it to work. I had actually already started interviewing for jobs in cities other than LA. Like, I was just ready to close out this chapter of my life because it wasn't working, you know - like, so, yeah, not at all, not even close.

GREENE: Well, let me finish with this. If there are people listening who are just getting fed up with modern dating, do each of you have, like, one piece of relationship advice that you would throw their way?

MCCLAIN: So, yeah, I think you should be open-minded. A lot of the criteria⁸ you have in your head is not actually meaningful at all. And the person that you're looking for might not necessarily be the person that you're looking for.

BIELY: Yeah. And what I would layer on top of that is just be honest and be honest with yourself in particular. I mean, you know, the things that make me happy with Kat are not necessarily the things that I thought would have made me happy, you know, in previous relationships.

GREENE: Congratulations to both of you. This is such...

MCCLAIN: Thank you.

BIELY: Oh, thank you.

GREENE: It's such a lovely story, and you two are lovely and...

MCCLAIN: Thanks.

GREENE: Yeah, we're just all happy for you.

BIELY: Oh, we're...

MCCLAIN: We're pretty happy.

BIELY: Exactly.

MCCLAIN: (Laughter).

GREENE: They are so great. Kat McClain and Kevin Biely - now married almost a year and a half after sharing their first date with NPR and the world. And they shared more about their journey in a Q&A that is at our website, npr.org/dating.

1 brat   

n.孩子；顽童

参考例句：

• He's a spoilt brat.他是一个被宠坏了的调皮孩子。
• The brat sicked his dog on the passer-by.那个顽童纵狗去咬过路人。

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

4 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

5 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

6 aspirational   

志同的，有抱负的

参考例句：

• Most of the images that bombard us all are aspirational. 轰击的图像，我们都期望最大。
• Analysts said self-help and aspirational reading could explain India's high figures. 分析师们指出，自助读书、热爱读书是印度人均读书时间超过别的国家的主要原因。

7 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

8 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。