(Non-)Rejections #20, #21, and #22: Let's get physical

I've noticed a theme with my rejection attempts lately. They often involve physical contact or silly games or something. Here's three of them that weren't necessarily consecutive days.

(Non-)Rejection #23: This was actually tonight. I asked someone outside of a restaurant to play Rock, Paper, Scissors with me to help Candace and I make a decision. I chose this woman in particular because she's someone I normally wouldn't approach and may inadvertently make assumptions about based on her appearance. 

When I asked her for a favor, her face lit up and she was incredibly sweet for the entire exchange. Here's the kicker, I only asked for a game to ONE because I didn't want to hold someone up or anything ... well, it took eight rounds for someone to win! That's right, we threw the same thing seven times in a row. She joked that we must have the same brain or something ... a conversation I certainly didn't expect to have with a stranger today. 

(And despite my RPS prowess, she won. FLUKE! Fluke, I tell you.)

(Non-)Rejection #21: I was inside Starbucks working, and passively thinking about rejections in the back of my mind, when a guy sat down at an outside table. His chair hit the window so I felt a small jolt to my leather chair that was also touching the window. It dawned on me how odd it was that we were sitting back-to-back, with no acknowledgement and no actual space between us. Just a window and two chair backs. Our heads were a foot apart. I felt opportunity knocking. I wanted to write him a message and show it through the window. I decided on the following:

If you look closely, you can see that I wrote this on the back of a photocopied page of a play, complete with highlighting (that sentence mostly for my actor friends). BUT, to get it written I had to borrow a pen. To get to the point, by the time I borrowed a pen and wrote the sign, the guy was gone. I kept working and no one else ever sat down at that table. I never got to use my sign.

Later as I was leaving I realized that I still hadn't been rejected, nor had I attempted a rejection. As I walked out the door, I literally jumped in front of a different outdoor table with a young couple sitting and drinking coffee and said, "Will one of y'all give me a high five?!?" That's when I realized they were probably about 16 and I got the death stare that their parents probably get daily. (Sigh, teenagers!) 

BUT, it turns out when you raise your hand for a high five, people have an instinctual response to raise their hand. I went towards the guy with my raised hand and he begrudgingly held his up with a very confused look as I gave him a solid five. Then I turned to the girl and she basically did the same thing. Then I ran away. I'm almost positive the death stares followed me.

I hope I'm doing this story justice because it's hilarious in my head. The important point for me is that I didn't hesitate, I just jumped into it. I think it was a step. That's about the clearest thought I have about it at this point, other than it made me laugh a few times throughout the day when I remembered their faces ... and getting that look from two teenagers DEFINITELY felt like rejection, even though they let me high five them. 

(Non-)Rejection #22: I was leaving a musical in downtown Greenville ("Once"--so good!) and again realized it was late and I hadn't been rejected. I saw a guy on a bench en route to the car. I asked him to give me a chest bump. Keep in mind, this is how I was dressed, complete with 4-inch heels:

With my sister, Christine, at dinner before the musical <3

He seemed a bit surprised, but also immediately willing to help. He stood up but was hesitant, so I felt like I needed to put him at ease about chest bumping me. I said, "I just want to go home saying I chest bumped a stranger, that's really it." We went for it pretty solidly right after that. I thanked him and he said, "Was that good enough? Want another one?" I giggled and ran off saying "No! That was great, thank you!" Oh, what must people think of my recent shenanigans ... 

What I learned from this one is that it's kind of unfair to ask someone lounging on a bench alone at 11pm looking like a hippie. They're often so kind and open, I might want to push myself a little harder :) But his openness and fantastic attitude made me smile and I'm glad for our chest bump!

So, no rejections in this blog, but lots of solid attempts and fun experiences.

I'm skipping a great story here, but I want to give it more time and I gave up on staying in order on these blogs already ... #23 is going to be fun, and I had to use some serious acting skills. So watch for it!