Things
are starting to look up for this experiment. This week, I handed out three
notecards three females, since I only handed out one to a girl last week. The
first girl was courteous, said thank you and walked away, but I knew she wouldn’t
call. The second girl was eating alone in the Big Onion, so I figured “what the
hell” and gave it my best shot. Believe me when I say it—if looks could kill,
my white chalk outline would be there now. She said not a word to me, and I got
the hell out of there before she could reach her pepper spray. But the third
girl… The third girl was my first callback, henceforth referred to as “Athena.”
She was
sitting on a table outside the Onion last weekend, smoking a cigarette and
texting someone. I approached her and gave her my card, hoping for the best. It
was halfway through my monologue that I remembered I was dressed like this
(Long story):
Despite the getup, the response was positive; it was the first time someone
introduced herself after I did so. About four hours later, I get a text from a
number that I’ve never seen, saying “Hey Ben with the lovely bowtie, it’s
[Athena]. We met earlier and I hope I’ll be helpful with your experiment haha.”
Success. We nailed down some details, and decided on Starbucks downtown after
class on Tuesday.
Tuesday
evening rolled around, and I arrived at Starbucks a few minutes early. I texted
Athena to tell her I was waiting outside, but I didn’t get a response. I
figured she was on her way. After ten minutes, I called, but she didn’t pick
up. Thirty minutes had passed, and none of my texts or calls had been returned.
Defeated, bruised, and pissed at the world, I began the long walk back to East
Halls.
Halfway
back, I got a text from Athena, saying “Oh my god I’m so unbelievably sorry! I’ve
been sleeping since I got home from class and I completely forgot to set an
alarm. I’m so sorry I feel terrible…” Well, that answers that question. We
ended up going to Starbucks after all, and we hung out for an hour and a half
just talking and getting to know each other. Turns out she’s a pretty cool cat,
so overall, it was a success.
I had
my doubts about this project, but getting a callback was certainly a confidence
booster. Hopefully this confidence reflects in my actual distribution of
notecards, because the hardest part is approaching the people to give them one.
Fortunately, knowing that there are people that will respond makes giving them
out just a little easier.
I think it's really interesting that she texted, and not called. Your little speech says that they can call you, right? I think this reveals the distance people like to keep between themselves and strangers. Honestly, I'd probably text too.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, after talking with her, why do you think she got in touch with you, while no one else did?
Yeah, when she texted me instead of called, I realized that very few people, if any, are going to actually call; they'll probably opt for text messages if they do respond. The reason she called was because she's new this semester, and doesn't know many people yet, so she figured she'd call me and get to know someone.
ReplyDeleteIt's great that someone finally responded! Perhaps for the next person you could talk more about their personality or quirks? Nothing too personal obviously, but just something interesting about them so that they're not just on a list of people that responded to your cards.
ReplyDeleteYAYYYYYY! someone responded! I am so excited. I was actually wondering if when you choose the people to give these cards to, if you are just choosing lonely people that you see or are you picking people that YOU think you will get a good response from? Because I feel like you should just try giving them out to the people you least expect, you may end up surprised. This week maybe even try giving out more than just 3 or 4 cards, Maybe 7 0r 8. lets see how that goes
ReplyDeleteThere's no way of knowing at first glance whether or not someone will respond if I give them a card. I just pick people that happen to be alone when I have the cards in my pocket. And I've thought about handing out more than three or four, but then I realized I only have the time in my week for three or four people at most.
DeleteYEYYY!!..I'm happy for you! At least it worked; she seems really nice. It might not have worked in a big city environment...say New York City. You never know, the first girl might give you a call. Oh, and I love your outfit. Its quite eccentric!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your first customer! The bowtie is definitley what reeled her in. I agree with samantha that giving out more cards will probably generate more responses. Most people will probably be pretty reluctant to go get coffee with a total stranger, so the more cards the better!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your experiment. The fact that it actually worked is so exciting to me! Anyway, it will be interesting to see if you see a change in yourself by the end of it. I don't see you as a shy person, but maybe by the end, you'll feel a lot more comfortable approaching strangers and develop a more extroverted personality?
ReplyDelete