She has bright red hair -- the Run Lola Run kind. Her arms are covered in sleeves of the most intricate and colorful tattoos. A few of her diamond-studded facial piercings sparkle under the fluorescent light. I don't think I've ever seen anyone look quite so out of place.
Have you been to the Plainfield Meijer? Let's just say it's not located in Grand Rapids' cultural epicenter or hipster hot spot. (A few miles north of the Lazy T Motel, I think this Meijer's zip code may house more sex offenders than anywhere else in the GR area. Just a guess from my minimal research. I, in fact, reside only a short distance away as well.)
Anyway, the girl stood out and certainly got my attention. There was something about her. I just had this strong feeling that I had to get to know her, that I wanted her as my friend. I don't quite know what it was, but I'm telling you my shopping trip suddenly took on a whole new purpose -- meet hot girl, introduce myself and make her my friend. Mission accepted.
It was one of those things where I kept saying to myself, "If she's walking in the next aisle I turn down, we're meant to meet (and be best friends!! hehehe)." I sound crazy. I'm crazy.
Well, after about 30 minutes of shopping, I kept spotting her from a distance. I wasn't stalking, I promise. I let my grocery list - not my new best friend - dictate my direction. She just kept standing out.
Toward the end of my trip, I ran into my good friend Kasey. I told her about "the girl" and how I wanted to meet her. After cracking up a bit, she told me to go for it. We looked around for her in the produce area and tracked her in the checkout lane. Oh no. This was it. Now or never. Kasey shouted, "Go, go, go!" And I did.
I hauled my loaded-down cart to the self-checkout lane (Sidenote -- I despise this lane. This shows you how committed I was.) The girl was finishing up bagging her items. I walked right up to her and said, "You are so beautiful. I love your look. I saw you and feel like I just have to be friends with you." Ahhhhhh! Looking back I realize how totally ridiculous and weird this is. I think I'm blushing as I write this. But I was caught up in a crazy moment.
She seemed a little taken aback. Rightly so! But then she said, "Thanks so much. That is so nice." We made small talk for a few seconds and then she asked me if I have a hair stylist. Turns out she works at the Aveda school. She gave me her card and told me to schedule an appointment. She offered to do my hair and added that it would give us a chance to chat more! Nicely done, Lauren.
But that's not all.
A few minutes later as I'm self scanning a ridiculous amount of items, she comes back to another self-checkout lane right in front of me. She must have forgotten something. I seized the moment again. "I hope you don't think I'm crazy," I gushed. "I just think you look like so much fun. I had to say something." And you'll never guess what she said next. Since moving here last summer, she's had a ridiculous time making friends (Something I've heard over and over again about West Michigan. But that's for another post another time!). She said it's been a lot harder than she thought it would be.
I couldn't believe it. I made a complete ass of myself. But what if I have a new friend because of it? She did give me her card, you know. I would like to insert right here that I met one of my very best friends in my doctor's office a few years ago because I thought she seemed nice and easy to talk to in the waiting room. We exchanged Facebook info via our nurses.
It just got me thinking that maybe I want to live more like this. Two things. One, I want to be intentional everywhere I go about looking for opportunities to meet people. Two, when I see someone I want to meet for who knows what reason I decide to just go for it. What in the world do I have to lose? I can handle weird looks, snobbery and rejection. It'd so be worth it in the end if I had a gaggle of new friends.
I love this. This childhood song plays in my head often... "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold." :) Friends make life sweeter.
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