Hey Thanks Bro

Saturday as I was walking to the BYU football game I decided that I was going to buy a drink at the Chevron on the corner and save myself $5 rather than buying it in the stadium. I walked in the store, look around a little bit and picked what I wanted. As I was checking out, two guys I had met this summer playing sand volleyball walked in and picked up their drinks. As i was talking to them and checking out I remembered! Oh ya, my "buy a stranger a coke" assignment. So I said to them, "hey guys, throw your drinks up here this ones on me?" Really hesitant and insisting that they could buy them I had to convince that they were on me. Finally I put them on the counter and paid for them as they awkwardly stood behind me silent as could be. As we walked out of the store and to the stadium, they both said a few times "Hey thanks bro" and seemed anxious to talk to me about whatever.

These guys weren't complete strangers but I had only met them a few times so it was still semi awkward for them. I learned that people seem to open up and are overly grateful when you do something for somebody without them asking, especially when it pertains to money. It surprised me to see how involved they were in my life after the incident when in the past they had never really cared. I thought this assignment was fun and I would like to do it again but this time with a complete stranger and maybe something a little bigger like a meal or movie ticket. I learned that people are naturally a little closed or shy; but once they feel comfortable around somebody and are able to break the ice, they open up and are very willing to get to know each other.