Addie's Adventurers - Clue #4

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Paying It Forward

What a challenge this has been! Our team was to meet somewhere, pay for a stranger’s beverage, give them a bookmark, and then ask them if they knew about the WI and explain what our local branch was up to.

When to meet? August had slipped by with everyone busy with one thing or another. Now September was upon us and still busy. For the next three weeks there would be at least one team member away and then we were at the last week of September; just before our deadline. But wait! We were all available the Friday afternoon before the September long weekend.

Where to meet? There is no coffee shop, per se, in our hamlet but there are a few eateries. As this is a tourist designation, it would be highly unlikely that our stranger would be someone local. They could be from anywhere in the world, especially on a long weekend. But the local Farmer’s Market was open Friday afternoons so this may help. We decided to meet at the local establishment across from the Farmer’s Market where people tended to pop in for a coffee, besides a full meal.

The four of us gathered outside at a table to discuss strategy. Christine, being on grandparent duty, had Abigail, her young granddaughter, with her and Julia brought Nova, her dog. Both are excellent to have to start a conversation with a stranger. Some of us had not yet had lunch so munchies and various beverages were ordered at the takeout window. Unfortunately, there was no one behind us while we each placed our orders.

As we sat pondering how to accomplish this task, we caught up on what we had been doing since the last time we had met. Trying to keep on topic, we realized none of us felt comfortable walking up to a stranger to start a discussion. Abigail and Nova did not qualify as they were not team members. However, they were helpful as they happily played together on the ground beside us and left us to our own task at hand.

To add to the complexity, people were normally coming as couples to the window to place orders. There were very few individuals there - especially a single woman. We started to look at the tables spread around the patio and gardens to see if there was a lady sitting alone. At first none but, about 10 minutes later, we saw a young lady by herself working on her laptop. Who to approach her? As Gwen had a positive experience as a pay-it-forward recipient during the pandemic, she was ‘voluntold’ to go.

With trepidation, Gwen took one of the bookmarks and approached the young lady. From a distance, the rest of us watched the two interact. It seemed like an eternity but eventually the two of them headed towards our table.

Gwen introduced us to Nicole. After introductions, Gwen said that Nicole did know about the WI, as her aunt was a member – in fact a past member of our Branch! And a neighbour to one of us! What a small world! It turned out that she was heading to her Dad’s home about 10 km away and had stopped to get some food. We talked about our Branch and the two 125th anniversary projects that were currently underway; one to buy an external defibrillator for the village and the other to replace a stolen plaque on a monument at a nearby lookout. We also mentioned our weekly walking and craft/drop-in groups.

Happily, Nicole agreed to have her picture taken with us. The photo you see is missing Irene as she was the photographer. Then Gwen went back with Nicole and paid for her coffee that she had ordered.

All in all, a great adventure!

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