“Hey! I’m at work right now, but there is a group of 7 girls and one of them just ate 10 breadsticks, along with her meal; which beats your record!”
“Uhh… Okay? (Keep in mind, my record is 14 breadsticks with my meal. Which was accomplished over 6 years ago, and is my current record. #BraggingNotBragging) Why are you telling me this?”
“I told them I was going to have the previous record holder come in to congratulate them, so get in here!” (Again, they didn’t beat my record, but I’m curious!)
“Why not? I’m on my way”
I arrive at the restaurant and my friend leads me to the table, and I find 7 girls, maybe high school age? By this point, she had finished her 10th breadstick. She lifted her shirt and told me that she was eating for two. Do you ever have that moment when you don’t know how to react to something? Is she really pregnant? Because I look like that after a big meal too… Turns out she was kidding! I congratulated her and gave her $20 for beating me out. (But I know she didn’t. Still, she can believe she holds the record, I’ve held it for long enough. It’s time to pass the score.) I learned everyone’s name… Ha, okay, Just kidding. I heard everybody’s name, once. I don’t remember a single one. I should have had them all write them down, but we were all too distracted by the conversation. They asked what I do, which is a very loaded question. I asked how they knew each other. Cross Country! I guess they can at least use those carbs they Just took in! After a while, I attempted to bid they ado…
“No, you can’t go now! Join us!”
“That I can do!”
So, I pulled up a chair and we conversed some more. They were writing down what they were thankful for, as a proJect of sorts. They also had money in the bin, never really understood what it was for. Oh, and one girl burned Ramen noodles. That’s not really relevant, but I thought it was funny. She was the Alpha of the group, and as so, did most of the talking with me. After a while, we all decided to head out. We all said our goodbyes, and I walked them back to their SUV. Then I walked away, but I didn’t go to my vehicle. You see, I had to leave my car in Florida, so I was driving a big ugly van. We call him Dan-The-Tan-Van, but he doesn’t look that impressive. This is the same van I took on my trip to Arkansas for #VanLife which you can read about HERE. I walked to the far end of the parking lot until they had driven away. Then I walked back and got into my van to leave. I head home and thought about how these opportunities don’t come along every day; and when they do, you Just have to take them! They will remember this day because some stranger gave their friend $20 for eating breadsticks, and I will remember this day because of this post.
I heard quote recently that I really like. It reads “I would rather have a life full of ‘oh wells’ than a life full of ‘what ifs’” That is powerful, and now I won’t ever wonder ‘what if?’ because I went for it. If nothing else, I got a memory and a story. For that alone, it’s always worth it.