I was sitting down at Brick City Grill up at the bar. Having a nice little chat with the bartender, Katie. When I see a commercial on the T.V. behind her advertising a 5′ tall giant teddy bear. I sit up in my chair and firmly say “I should buy one of those giant teddy bears and give it away to some total stranger!”
A different bartender was walking by and she heard my idea. Slowly she raises her hand, points to herself repeatedly and mouths the word “Me”, laughs a little, then proceeds to walk into the back room. At this moment, someone down the bar calls for another drink and Katie walked away from my side of the bar to attend them. I sit there and ponder where I could get this giant teddy bear. Ordering it would take too long, Valentine’s Day is Just around the corner, and I need this bear now!
Time passes as I finish up my food and beverage. I say goodbye to Katie and walk out the back. As I’m walking out to my car I think yet again… “That bear, that bear. Where could I get that bear?” My whole drive home I’m thinking about where to go buy one of these bears. By the time I reached home I had decided to stop thinking about it and Just go for it! I pulled into my driveway and went right back out!
As I’m driving I call up Super Walmart and ask if they have any 5′ bears in stock. Sadly, they did not. But they had some 3 and a half foot bears that were running for $40. It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but I was already this far and I had to get it!
I arrive at Super Walmart and find the bear, it’s quite large, white, and holds a red heart that reads “Be Mine” on it. I look at the bear and Just start laughing. At this point, I realize something. I don’t even know this girls name! All I know is that she’s a bartender at Brick City Grill and she wears glasses. But that was enough for me! I proceed to the checkout and everyone is commenting on the bear. “Oh, that’s so nice.” “Wow, you’re an amazing boyfriend!” etc. I Just smile and pass by.
As I’m checking out a guy comes up behind me and asks, “Hey, are you the guy that called about the bear?”
“Yes, Sir! That was me!” I replied. He laughs and says,
“Well, I’m sure she’ll Love it! How long have you been dating?”
“Well Sir, we haven’t. Quite honestly, I don’t even know her name. We had a 14-second interaction earlier today in context to a large bear, so I’m here to buy her one.” He and the girl next to him burst out laughing and then wish me luck.
On my way back to my car a couple stops me and the girl says “Man, she is going to Love you forever with one of those!” To which the guy adds,
“Yeah, and you’re getting lucky tonight!” I smile and explain I really don’t know this girl. I Just like giving stuff to random strangers, and getting a good reaction from it. Their faces drop. They paused and then burst out laughing! At this point, I don’t even need to give this beautiful stranger the bear. I get a million reactions Just by holding it! I put the bear in the front seat and go around to start my drive.
This is the moment, I’ve arrived at Brick City Grill, pull out the bear and walk in the back door and… Her shift got over and she’s gone….
So, I figure it to be a bust and Just sat down to talk to Katie for a while. Eventually, she questions the bear and I explain what I was going to do with it. Turns out she had this girls number so she called her! …She didn’t answer. She then asks me if it’s alright to Just text her,
“There is some guy here with a giant teddy bear for you…” Sure, why not? Just a moment later she gets a response. “NO WAY!!!” She didn’t believe her so she ended up having to send a photo of the bear. Once she finally believed it, she and her roommate got into her car and started driving back to the Grill.
I sit back in a booth with this massive teddy bear and start watching sports, even though I really don’t care for them. It passed the time. Raegan walks in (Oh, so that’s her name!) looks dead at me and says, “You didn’t!” I replied,
“Oh, but I did!” handing over the teddy bear. She burst out laughing and so does her roommate. The bartender on duty walks over and watches this whole interaction. I look over at Katie and she is recording us! We all chatted and laughed for a while, got a few photos together, the works. She gave me a hug, thanked me for the millionth time, and I went home.
I do all kinds of weird things, but that’s why Single Awareness Day is one of the favorites. I despise the concept of the holiday, but for what I do with it, it makes it all worth having. All to make yet another smile. Mission complete.