Life does NOT Happen in a Vacuum

Being the social recluse that I am, I must admit that friends are a treasure. And when I say friends I not only include friends, but also acquaintances, friends of friends that I have never met, and of course store clerks of establishments where I frequent enough to be familiar with not only names but details of their personal lives. Let’s face it, unless you have surrounded yourself with enablers, there are times that you must leave your domicile and interface with society.

That is not to say that I would rather stay cooped up in my home, because I really do enjoy getting out and mingling. However, I seem to need a purpose, like needing food for the family, or feeling the need to run, or the necessitate of getting a project started for the Awesome 3000! Wednesday’s purpose was the project and the upcoming A3K status meeting that spurred me toward downtown. It was a natural propensity that directed me not just to the store to pick up the disk of logos (which had been waiting at the front for a couple of weeks), but directly across the street from Awesome 3000 headquarters, is situated Greenbaum’s Quilted Forest. A cornucopia of all things fabric!

I blogged about this experience a few days ago, however today I would like to focus on the people. When one enters a commercial establishment, there is an expectation of customer service. Greenbaum’s has never disappointed me in this aspect of their business model. As I proceeded to shop for the fabric and as the layout began to gel in my mind, Donna began to take hold of the idea and in true Greenbaum style, began to pull fabric bolts off the shelves. The process of compare and contrast took hold and it was a race to see which bolt looked best with the foundational pieces. After the final selection had been approved and accepted by all, Donna began cutting… 16 bolts in all ½ yard of each...

 I am well aware that this is her job, and she does earn a paycheck for her efforts, yet her attitude was stellar throughout the process and her willingness to help and her expertise in color combinations proved to be invaluable. What would have taken all afternoon to accomplish took little over an hour. And there was help from others in the store, as they would pass by or if we needed a “second opinion” somebody would provide the needed input on the spot. It felt magical just being a part of the experience and listening to each and every comment. I learned more about fabric, how certain materials, such as batiks, are made, and also just how to proceed with the pattern. Advice from individuals that had hours and hours of experience with such projects helped inspire me and put the process in motion.

It is about many perspectives coming together to put a project in motion. Another example of this happened in the organizing meeting. As I was introducing the project and showing off the fabric colors and design, another member of the committee volunteered his wife to help and also gave me names of others that would “most likely” be interested in helping. Like people coming out of the woodwork. I thought of Cinderella and her band of merry mice. Everybody working together to accomplish the task. It started to make a huge project feel more doable, without needing to pull a few all-nighters to finish the task.

The prospect of help to relieve the burden felt like a refreshing glass of cool water. I find it interesting that as soon as you put a project in motion, folks will generally jump in to help the process along, willing to step up to the plate and take a swing. This experience not only restored my faith in humanity, but the willingness of perfect strangers boosted my confidence level in the project as well as the Awesome as a whole.

And the wife of the other volunteer, yes we are getting together later this week to cut and sew and chat about how Awesome it is to help kids!!!

Isn’t that what life is all about… unless maybe it really is the “Hokey Pokey!!!”