Day 1: Free Hugs

Overall, free huging was a success! At first we were really nervous that no one would take kindly to the free hugs, but after the first few minutes it was clear that that was not the case. An estimated 50 hugs were administered, and all were received in good spirits and with smiling faces. Some choice quotes from the day were:

“Have you had your H1N1 shot??” – middle aged woman.
“Even old people?? [especially old people! – Bryan]” – old woman.
“That’s awesome!!” – really cute 12 year boy.
“I’m too sweaty for a hug.” – Zachary’s pizza guy.
“I’ll stand next to you guys! Moose!” – Woman with calendar.
“This is beautiful guys, how could you do such a thing??” – Some woman.

Some people were not as receptive as others...some awkward glances and cold shoulders were shot at us, while others merely laughed. However, those people were in the minority.
Over the course of the hour we stood in front of A.G. Ferrari’s we were solicited to have our picture taken by more than one person and were even offered water from a kindly store owner. All in all, it left us feeling light spirited and optimistic about the days to come. We hope the free hugees felt the same way!!

-ScruffyGiver

7 Days of Giving, second time around

Hello! We are going for a round 2 on 7 Days of Giving. We are posting this a little bit late, but time is not an issue because these giving activities can be done any day!
Here is our schedule:


- Sunday 1/3
Meet outside Karma Kitchen at 2pm to make “Free Hugs” signs and then split up into groups around Berkeley and give out free hugs. Come at 1pm if you want to have lunch first. Karma Kitchen is located at the corner of Virginia and Shattuck in Berkeley, but if you are not in Berkeley you can do this anywhere!

- Monday 1/4
Set up a free lemonade or hot chocolate stand or hand out water at a local park or track

- Tuesday 1/5
Pick or buy flowers and hand them out to strangers or leave them in mailboxes and on car windows to give someone a nice surprise; collect shopping carts at a grocery store and put them where they belong

- Wednesday 1/6
Anonymously buy something for a stranger – pay for an extra coffee at a coffee shop for the person after you, pay an extra toll faire on the bridge for the car behind you, pay for two tickets instead of one at the movie theater and just tell the box office man that you want to cover the person behind you, leave money with the attendant at a gas station

- Thursday 1/7
Write 3 letters of appreciation to people who have positively impacted your life and ask them to write to three more people; call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while; tell someone you love them

- Friday 1/8
Today you can give to your friends and family: run an errand for a friend, make a roommate breakfast in bed, do your brother's laundry

- Saturday 1/9
Show strangers that the world is not so disconnected – converse with or give a compliment to someone you see on the street, stand next to in a line, or buy something from in a store. This will show the world that we don’t have to live as alone individuals, but instead we can live as one whole people.

Day 6: Late-Night Giving

For the sixth day of giving, myself and a few other givers got a pretty late start. We racked our brains for ideas that were feasible at 9:00 on a Sunday night. What's open and attracting customers at that time? Well, movies and food, of course!

Our plan: go to a cinema and a few drive-thru's and anonymously pay for the next customer's purchase.

First, we set our for the AMC 12 movie theatre. Our first giver handed over $9 and asked the attendant at the box office to use it to buy the next person's ticket. As we were leaving, we noticed her telling all of her co-workers what happened.

Next, we hit up the drive-thru at Steak-n-Shake. A friendly manager at the window took the second giver's $10 as we explained our mission. He seemed surprised (who wouldn't, it is a strange request, after all), but also glad to carry out our good deed. I'm optimistic that he actually did.

For the last stop, we rolled through the drive-thru at McDonald's (shockingly, Starbucks was closed...) and did the same thing. The employee at Mickey-D's didn't seem so happy and enthused. Rather, she was pretty skeptical and confused (a normal reaction, too). The realist/pessimist within me admits that she may very well have pocketed the cash. But, hopefully I'm wrong.

Even though this giving opportunity was kind of an easy way out (we tried not to involve money!), it still felt good to do something nice. It's always interesting to see peoples' reactions, too. It would have been nice to see the reactions of the people who received the free movie ticket and food, but at the same time, the anonymity could be a good thing. As one giver pointed out, now they'll always wonder who it was that did such a randomly nice thing!

Day 5: Spread the love, give a Free Hug!

Yesterday a few fellow givers and I went to the Delmar Loop to give out free hugs. For me, this was the most enjoyable day of giving so far. We gave so many hugs that we lost count! The day was a great success, and here's why I think so:
* The Loop is an exciting, hip area. There's more diversity among it's patrons, and people are generally more open-minded.
* The weather was beautiful
* It's move-in weekend at WashU, so many students and parents were out exploring the city

We stood on the sidewalk holding our "Free Hugs" signs, and let people approach us. This worked well; I think we learned from our first day of giving that people may feel pressured or uncomfortable if we outwardly approach them. We kind of learned to gauge when to talk to people and when to just stand there.

Overall, we met some interesting people. GiverTree already mentioned some of the Greats (like "That price is great" guy), but here are some others:
* The first group of girls to get hugs really set the tone of the day. There were five of them, and one recognized the signs and asked if we were from Rolla (apparently the school has Free Hugs shirts for sale there, and two of girls owned their own!) Those first five hugs were pretty clutch
* A big group of kids passed us on several occasions, giving us hugs each time. They kind of became our unofficial recruits, shouting out to people on the street to give us hugs!
* We met a few students from Ladue; they were taking pictures for their photography class (shout out to Mr. Sachs!)
* A group of WashU freshman crossed the street to hug us and chat
* Even amongst the people who didn't hug us, we got many stares and smiles. We even exchanged some "air hugs" with people across the street or in cars who we couldn't physically hug

In addition to the people we hugged and met, we made so many interesting observations. The following are only some:
* The demographics of "huggers" varied greatly. We had people of all races/ethnicities, ages, and both genders hug us. At the same time, certain groups of people seemed friendlier and much more comfortable approaching us and getting hugs.
* It was easy to spot the starers, especially when they were in big groups across the street, or people stopped in their cars at a stoplight. We made it a point to wave to people when they stared. They would almost always get a huge grin and wave back.
* Contrary to our thoughts, many parents encouraged their young kids to give us hugs, rather than pull them away upon seeing their child approach a stranger.

Overall, I really enjoyed this day's giving! Seeing peoples' reactions, and how positively we affected others, was really reinforcing and put me in a great mood all day. In addition to spreading kindness and happiness, I think this was an interesting social experiment. I definitely encourage you readers to try it some time. If you're not comfortable hugging strangers, at least make an effort to hug the people you care about more often!

Day 5: Free Hugs

Day 5: Free Hugs was definitely our most exciting and interactive day. I would say that two fellow givers and I gave out about 100 hugs. We counted for a while, but eventually there were just too many. Here are some of the highlights of the day.

• A man rode by on his electric wheelchair, saw our free hugs signs, and yelled out "I like that price". Then he proceeded to give one of my fellow givers a hug and laughed when he rolled away.
  
• A woman in a taxicab stopped, got out of her car, and asked us to take picture that she could give her friend. Apparently, her friend saw the free hugs campaign video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4), then gave us both hugs and drove away excited. We probably had our pictures taken 20 times throughout the day.
  
• We met one girl who was doing her bachelorette party as a scavenger hunt. They asked me to write her a letter on a notecard about why she should dump her fiance Eric and be with me. I wrote "Dear Stephanie, You should leave this guy Eric. Has he ever held up a free hugs poster? I think not. Love, GiverTree". I also drew a stick figure picture of me and her holding hands with a heart over us. She gave me a hug after I was done.
• A mom told us she "needed a hug" because her son just left her for college.
• We got a hug from a little boy who was about 2 years old. His hands barely made it around my ankles for the hug.
• One guy hugged me, then said "this isn't gay right?", then said and I quote, "it would be better if you were holding a sign that said free wings". The other giver and I laughed and said, "yeah, that would be cool".
• A new group of students from Washington University in St. Louis ran across the street to hug us.
• Two guys I didn't know practically tackled me and one started lifting up my shirt. One of them told me it was the greatest hug he has ever had.

Gosh, there were so many more great stories. I hope my fellow givers complete the list. I recommend to everyone to try out free hugs. Just make a sign that says "Free Hugs" and go for it. It only takes one hug to feel comfortable.

Day 4: Giving Flowers

Yesterday I participated in a drive by! Another giver and I went to Tilles park in St. Louis to pick flowers to hand out. Ok, so we did a little taking in order to do some giving, but it was all with good intentions.

It was such a nice afternoon, and I had forgotten how beautiful Tilles park is. What a lovely time to go for a stroll outside! These Days of Giving are a win-win for all involved: it feels great to do something nice for others. At the same time, we're getting great opportunities to spend time with friends outside.

Afterward, GiverTree and myself drove around and put flowers on the windshields of parked cars. I would have liked to hand flowers to more people in person because I wanted to see peoples' reactions. But we did give a flower to an employee at an ice cream shop. He seemed really grateful and smiley when I gave him a flower. Although he kind of smirked and might have been thinking, "what the hell, this is weird." I offered a flower to a guy sitting in his car and he refused. I find it strange that a person could refuse a free flower; however, I guess we're all instructed from a young age not to accept things from strangers.

Either way, from the two reactions I did see, it makes me wonder what people did when they found a flower on their windshields. I'm hoping there were some smiles.

Friday's Giving

Today I took a nice long walk in my hometown of Berkeley, California and had a few run-ins with acts of kindness.

As I walked through a residential area, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of cars that stopped for me to cross the street. Not only did the cars stop for me, but the drivers often waved me across the street with a smile. Unknowingly, these drivers brightened my day! After living in India for two months, a place where pedestrians do not have the right of way, EVER, and I felt like I was in a game of Frogger every time I crossed the busy streets, this contrast of having cars stop for me was quite a shock and put a smile on my face. It felt good to know that these strangers felt like I was important enough for them to stop their cars and let me cross. Instead of blowing off a stranger, they decided to interact with me in a positive way and I am happy about that. It shows that people other than the givers who are posting on this blog are giving.

Once I got to a more urban area, I decided to check each parking meter as I walked by and put a few coins into meters that had less than 10 minutes in them. I noticed that all the cars that had handicapped stickers did not have money in their meters – I think they don’t have to pay for metered parking? So I stopped putting coins in the handicapped parked car meters.

I met up with a giver friend at Pete’s coffee and we bought a muffin for the homeless man sitting outside and sat down and talked to him. While we were talking he got a call on his cell phone (hmmm, a homeless guy with a cell phone…?) and he got a construction job for tomorrow! Great news! I was so happy to share this moment with him in his life. He was smiley and that put him in a much better mood. He said although it was just a one time job, at least it was some income. Great outlook on life considering he is homeless.

Then, the giver I was with and I picked some flowers off the street. We walked around downtown and offered them to people. Not a single person accepted a flower! It was quite discouraging. Some people just said, “No” while others said, “No, but thank you. They are beautiful.” We had one person say, “No, what would I do with a flower?” That hit me hard. ‘What would you do with a flower?’ ‘What would you do with a flower?’

I think flowers are beautiful and I thought more people would accept them, to put in their hair or just to hold, but no, we did not get any of that. So we left flowers on people’s cars at the CVS store near by.