Originally I planned on approaching anyone I ran into while I was in the store. My gameplan is to just walk up to them, say hi and offer them a dollar. My explanation if necessary in the situation would be to say I hope that it would make them smile. In the dollar store I really hope that everyone would be willing to accept my dollar since it would allow them to get anything they wanted or needed.
This exercise was so much more difficult than I anticipated. Approaching someone while they are busy and shopping proved to be hard because it really took me out of my comfort zone. I tried to think if the situation were reversed would I accept the dollar or not? I actually only was able to give away two dollars during the experiment and it was to two young kids. I decided to go down the dollar store of the toy aisle and they were with their grandmother picking out toys to buy and I was able to give them each a dollar. When they finally accepted the dollar it actually felt good to have someone finally accept it after the skepticism and the looks I had received at my previous failed attempts. The young girl was pretty shy but as the video shows the little boy "already had a dollar" haha. With the other attempts I had I tried to explain it was free and that I just wanted to something nice for somebody but each one still rejected it. All in all it was a good exercise that taught me a lot about reaching outside of my comfort zone and offering something to a stranger.
Great idea going to the dollar store! Nicely done! :)
ReplyDeleteSkylar, I can definitely relate to your experience. First, I went to the Dollar Tree on my "real attempt" after my dry run. I had some not so positive results on my dry run and expected the same on my second. I think the idea of just a random act of kindness should have worked, but people are mostly suspicious these days. Don't blame yourself for trying, at least you tried.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to my post where I was just offering "just because" :http://sonjasevolution.blogspot.com/2016/02/free-money.html
Hi Skylar!
ReplyDeleteI loved that you chose the location of a dollar store. Very unique and a great way to ensure people would put it to good use on the spot.
This exercise was definitely intimidating. I am currently studying aboard in Italy and was too overwhelmed to even attempt the task with a language barrier, so I commend your effort. Since I don’t have a link to share to the post, here’s a link to my overall blog if you’re interested: http://michellekelleyuf.blogspot.it
Thanks for sharing!
*studying abroad
DeleteI like your reasoning behind going to the dollar store. In theory it was a very logical choice. I thought about whether or not I would take a dollar being offered to me by a complete stranger as well. Honestly, I don’t think I would for whatever reason. I think many people are very cautious of others these days even if their intentions are pure. I commend you for going out of your comfort zone and accomplishing this task! Check my blog out at http://mrufent.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteHey Skylar,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the first part of your post I thought that going to the dollar store was a brilliant idea! I was kinda disappointed people chose to not accept free money; I really thought that the idea had a ton of potential. But, like you said, maybe they were just uncomfortable because they were trying to do their shopping in peace, either way awesome job! Its definitely not easy going up to random people. If you want to check out my attempts, here's the link to my blog post: http://gabrielaraujoent3003.blogspot.com/2016/02/free-money.html