Knock Knock Otter Pop

The neighborhood Otter Pop Handout was a huge success.  I was blown away by how much fun it was to see the suprise on peoples faces often resulting in laughter and some great conversations.  Certainly there were those who politely declined but for the most part if they were home they gladly took us up on our offer.  Here are some highlights as I saw it:

1.  It was great to see our community pull together as a team.  Some were obviously more extroverted but all played a part.

2.  In general the word “free” has lost it’s meaning.  The more we handed out the more we decided to not use the word “free” because it implied that we actually wanted something from them.  We opted for words like “passing out,” “handing out,” or “giving away.”  Not only has the word “free” lost it’s meaning but the concept has as well.  Most were shocked that we would hand something out and ask nothing in return.  That was the best part.

3.  It just so happened that we handed out two otter pops to Mormons who were also cruising the neighborhood.  They of course wanted to engage us, I on the other hand did everything I could to quickly let them know that we were firm in our beliefs and our beliefs didn’t line up with theirs.  I was much more interested in spending the evening with my neighbors then debating religion.  They ended the conversation by asking if there was anyone in my neighborhood who needed help with anything or who was in deep emotional pain.  I politely said, “no, sorry.”

4.  The best conversation of the night was of course at the end.  We met a girl who lived just a stones throw and had lived there as long as we have lived in our house…5 years.  Yes, that was the first time we met her.  We have a lot of neighbors where we live due to the town homes but we were still surprised that this was the first time.  We had a great conversation and are anticipating a continued relationship.

Thanks group for helping us better love our neighbors.  Perhaps we will give some thought to the apparent need for new door bells for all our neighbors.