Days 20 & 21: A little breather

If you've read my post about my rejection and lessons learned on Day 19 then it may come as no surprise that I needed a little respite after that one. Not a respite from Rejection Boot Camp, but respite from being overly bold for my own comfort. And a respite I took. In fact, I'm combining Days 20 & 21 because they're pretty low key.

Day 20: Shopping at Pike's for plants for my balcony garden - which I do almost every weekend and is a hobby I picked up thanks to friend and fellow actress Norma - I couldn't decide between two begonia plants to go in my kitchen. Did I say balcony garden? Yeah I wanted something for that, but ended up getting an indoor begonia plant. They were so beautiful I couldn't resist. At checkout I asked the clerk if I could have both plants for the price of one? Er, no. Rejected.  So I bought one and went home.

I liked the begonias so much that I went back the next day and got the other one anyway. Rejected *and* double the trips. Woo!

I got this color and an orange one.

Day 21: So I went back to Pike's and invited my friend Juan to meet me there and then go for dinner. There's a Thai place we like to go in Buckhead that serves consistently delicious food. I bought my second pot of begonias, then Juan and I made our way to dinner, where I informed him that he was going to help me get rejected today.

When we got to the restaurant we looked around for some targets. Seeing as how I'm always cold, Juan said I should ask someone for their jacket. Not a bad idea... I saw a woman sitting across the room with a very nice looking wrap around her shoulders. She was having dinner with a friend, which made it that much more daunting to interrupt them, but since the rules of Rejection Therapy tell you to follow your fear, I decided this was a good thing.

I went over and told the woman that I really loved her wrap. "Oh thank you so much!" she lit up immediately, and had a big warm smile on her face! I know this is about getting rejected, but I am always glad when I make someone smile like that. It's a bonus! And she was so happy to hear that I had admired her couture from across the room.

"Listen, I don't suppose you'd want to sell it to me, would you?" I asked. At first, she jokingly asked me how much, but before I could name a price, she said "Actually, I wouldn't sell it. I got this on a trip to India last year and I don't want to part with it. But thank you so much for asking me!"

"Oh, I would not want you to part with it in that case," I replied. I was sincere, plus I was just rejected, so no need to press the issue. I told her again how lovely it was and she let me feel the material. Very soft. I thanked her for allowing me to inquire about it, told her what great taste she had and went back to my table.

On the way out the door I turned to Juan - who was laughing at me the whole time - and complained to him I was still shaking from going over the lady and interrupting her dinner. I have gotten a lot better at approaching strangers but it still gets me sometimes.

Anyway, the weekend of "respite rejections" was a success.