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Show Friday, February 13, 1987 Page Six JOHN YClICiGREt! Cupid's airirow strikes a love bargain It was because of Valentine's Day. It was because it's a day of love, and he am, and Cupid, and romance. It was because there's not enough of any of the above in the world these days. It was because I needed a column. So, in the spirit of the Day is Saturday and a from game shows like The cue taking and The Love Connection, Game Dating it became obvious to me earlier this week that the best way to celebrate this particular time of the year is through love, hearts, Cupid and romance and not necessarily in that order. But what do you do if you don't have love, hearts, Cupid and romance readily available? Well, you create love, hearts, Cupid and romance. No problem, day-Vale- ntine's right? My idea was simple. On Thursday, we would head downstairs to a high traffic area the Union Terrace. Once there, I would approach an affable, young man at random with a single red rose. him and equip With said rose in hand, this affable, young man would then an equally affable, friendly approach young woman also at random and give her the rose. If we actually got this far along, the young man would then ask the young woman out on a date, for Saturday night, or a "Valentine's Day" engagement, if you will. To sweeten the prospects, we coerced two Chronicle advertisers to contribute to the cause. The Pie Pizzaria, on 1320 E. 200 South, donated a pizza, for bread and drinks salads, garlic dinner while Plitt Theaters donated an "Executive Courtesy Pass" good for a free movie for two at any Plitt Theater Saturday night. Dinner, a movie and Valentine's Day. Could love be far behind? nice-looki- ng nice-looki- ng 12-in- ch BREAKING HEARTS Two things became obvious as soon as we hit the Union Terrace around 3:15 p.m. Thursday. First, there weren't many people there. Second, many of them were engrossed either studying or talking, making the prospect of approaching someone and talking him into asking someone else out on a date for Valentine's Day rather intimidating. Chronicle photographers Boone Xayyo, Steve Wilson and I went past the Union Sweet Shop. We noticed one fellow who was working. I knew his name was John. I also knew he was always friendly to customers and was any time generally pretty good-spiritI've ever seen him. In other words, he was the affable, young guy I was out for. Besides, he works in the get this Union Sweet Shop. For a Valentine's Day date? I knew I had my man. And John his last name is Lewis verified my hunch. He was certainly up for the prospect, right from when we first approached him. "I love this," he said. "But I don't have a car." We told him not to worry. Finding a car for the date was the least of our concerns. Finding the date itself was the priority. I told him the details of our "Chronicle Love Connection" and John quickly mapped his strategy. "I want to ask someone different," he said. "Someone I don't know." It was apparent he needed the break to freedom of a His task. his supervisor, accomplish Kae Johnson, told him to take it. So, with " 1 5 minutes to kill," we set out on our journey. "Who do I ask?" wondered John. "This is crazy." ed nice-looki- ng 15-min- date-findi- ng John was getting the idea. 15 MINUTES TO LOVE John wandered around for a few minutes, rose in hand. We circled the Terrace, peering at prospective dates, coaxing John's courage as we spotted likely candidates. He spotted a young woman be knew in line at the Union Broiler. Her name, he said, was Kim. John stirred up his guts and asked her out. Kim wouldn't go for it. "I have to find out if I have a rehearsal that night," she said. She also said she wouldn't know about that until Friday morning. Noooooo, Kim. Your loss. It would have to be someone else. We needed an answer right away. "My first rejection," John mused as wc walked away. I consoled him briefly. "Snap out of it, John," I said. "Well find you a 'Love Connection' before this is over." IS THIS IT? Abandoning the Terrace area, John led our charge into the upstairs Union Building. Wandering around for a moment, John spotted Wendy Barnhart yes, BarnHART in the window of the Union Administrative offices. "I'd love to ask her," John said. "But I don't know." I told him to go for it. You're only a 'Love Connection' participant once in life. John went for it. He explained what he was up to, and then he popped the question. "Would you like to go out with me on Saturday night?" he said. "That is, if you're not married something." Wendy was obviously swept off her feet. "Oh, well," she said. "Sure." Ecstasy. And love, hearts, Cupid and WANTED WANTED WANTED WANTED WANTED WANTED WANTED JUNIORS who are matriculated in a four-yea- r undergraduate program and will complete their Junior year (134 hours) by June 12, 1987. or 03 romance. John and Wendy made their plans. A 7 p.m. beginning was in order for Saturday, accounting for both the Plitt movie and dinner at The Pie. They eventually got each other's phone numbers, in case anything came up unexpectedly. And, oh yes, Wendy said she would drive. Wendy clutched the rose as the two posed for a Chronicle photograph. It turned out that both Wendy, a senior, and John, a junior, happened to be communications majors a common area for conversation. With things settled, John grabbed his apron. The 15 minutes were almost gone it was time to get back to work. But he made the most of the final seconds he had, quickly leaning over toward Wendy's cheek and lightly kissing it. "Until Saturday," he said. She giggled. And they say chivalry is dead? ONLY THE SHADOW KNOWS As John departed, I turned to Wendy and asked her what she was thinking about the upcoming big night. "Are you more psyched (about the date) than you've ever been about anything in your life?" I asked. "That's a good way to put it," Wendy said. Then I hit her with the clincher. The slip-knquestion. The one to leave us all with baited breath until next Tuesday, when well check in and see how John and Wendy's Valentine's Day date went. "Wendy," I said, "Do you think this might lead to true love?" "You never know," Wendy answered. "Anything can happen on Valentine's ot Day." John Youngren is the Chronicle's editor in chief. M 1 1 JUNIORS who are interested in strengthening their leadership skills. You are invited to apply for leadership training with Leadership America. Leadership America is a national program providing a 10 week learning experience. It is fully underwritten and participants receive a stipend of $3,000 to offset expenses and the loss of summer income. Participants will train in four locations: Greensboro, North Carolina, the Rocky Mountains, Dallas, Texas and Washington D.C. They will concentrate on leadership skills and problems. They will learn from guest leaders from business, government weeks will be and community service. Four and one-haspent in an internship. Graduation will take place in Washington D.C. self-understandi- ng, lf total of 50 students from 400 universities will be selected to participate. A More information and applications are available in the Student Involvement Center, 270 Union. Completed applications must be returned to the Student Involvement Center no later than FEBRUARY 26, 1987. ten ASUU and KUER welcomes to SLC Campus Jazz with Maynard Ferguson & High Voltage Monday, February 16, 1987 - 8:00 PM Kingsbury Hall 12.50 U of U ID 10 Tickets Prices: TICKETS ON SALE NOW! ' i |