Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Operation Flowerbomb 2: A Socio-floral Success!

After this morning's rough start, I decided to take the show on the road for the lunch hour!


I hopped on the El and rode to Chicago's quaint Lincoln Park neighborhood. Sadly, the streets were dead...I'm thinking today's cold snap is keeping people huddled up indoors for lunch! A bit downtrodden, I hopped back on the train and decided to try my luck at the Merchandise Mart. The train car was crowded and I saw plenty of opportunities to hand bouquets to people, but I really clammed up for some reason! I think it was mostly that things so far hadn't worked out smoothly, that had me gun shy.

But there's nothing like the kindness of strangers!

A man sitting across the aisle from me asked, "How much are your flowers?"

Brightening, I responded, "They're actually FREE! I have a little floral events business and was just trying to hand them out to people in honor of Thanksgiving this week! But for some reason I've gotten nervous on the approach!"

Super Awesome Nice Man: "Dang! Let me have one of those for my wife! What a great idea!"

That's when all the people around me began to chime in, asking for a bouquet and a card of their own! Everybody was so sweet, telling me they really appreciated it and wished me all the best, etc. It was one of those great experiences that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about the nature of people.

With renewed confidence I hopped off the train and finished passing out all my free bouquets at the Merchandise Mart, and people were delighted! It was a great, feel-good kinda experiment. Fun stuff!

Oh. And when I said I passed out all of my bouquets, that's not entirely true. I actually kept one for myself -- the runt of the litter -- to remind myself of the fun I had, and of how friendly people can be once you open up a bit.

Just in time for Thanksgiving. :)

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