Monday, November 26, 2012

The Awkward Side To Giving

With my challenge in full swing, I'm constantly trying to come up with new, creative ways to give. And taking a nod from my momma, I decided to do a little drive-by giving. Or drive-thru giving to be exact.

My mom has been known to pick up the tab for the car behind her at the drive-thru every so often, so today I thought I'd give it a whirl. It was easy, painless, and awkward. Yep, I said awkward.

The minute I pulled into the drive-thru, I was already a little nervous that someone wasn't going to pull in behind me before my window of opportunity was up, so I was anxiously scouring the parking lot entrance in a slight and unnecessary creeper mode. Awkward moment numero uno. Much to my luck, a driver slips in behind me. And, again to my luck, she wasn't hauling around 18 of her closest friends. I'm trying to be generous here, not broke. Just being honest.

My only task was to ask to pay for my tab AND the car behind me. Easy and painless, plus the college kid manning the window was really nice and actually thanked me for what I was doing. Totally unnecessary again, but it made me feel at ease versus him thinking that I'm some weird creeper (yet again).

Here's where it gets awkward...so now I've paid for their meal, but I'm still waiting for mine to be handed to me so that I can make my getaway. My heart was pounding. Awkward moment numero dos. I'm not sure what makes it so awkward, but I'm guessing that it's because you want it to be a random act of kindness however the person is right behind you, staring at your car wondering "why did they do that?" and you're a sitting duck. Needless to say, I grabbed my lunch and bolted.

Lastly,I did what every creeper does, I called my momma. My mom assured me that she often feels the same rush of nerves and awkwardness as well when participating in a little drive-thru giving. We had a good laugh over it and then I ate my slightly cold fries. This act was a stretch of my comfort level, so I'll chalk it up to a success.

I'll definitely do it again in the future, but I think I'll throw on some sunglasses, a hat and a fake mustache next time. So the next time you're in a drive-thru in Rockford, keep an eye out for the incognito-creeper-gifter. I'll be the one awkwardly giggling behind my faux-stache!

1 comment:

mama spike said...

I love it! Why should we panic when being generous...but, we do. How funny!