Just as I said last year, you'd think as the brother of the guy who started the Worldwide Day of Giving, that it would somehow be easy for me to give $10 to a stranger. It isn't.

First off, it is just hard to approach a stranger on the street. Even harder these days that most people walk around with headphones on. So I patiently looked for people who did not seem to be in a hurry and who weren't listening to their headphones. But it took me 3 attempts to successfully give away $10.

My first failure was a woman standing outside the Jack Rose Dining Saloon. I made the mistake of starting the conversation with "Do you have a couple minutes?" She immediately responded, "No actually? I'm busy" as she started to play with her smart phone. I tried to be persistent, saying "It is the Worldwide Day of Giving, and I'd like to give you $10 with no strings attached" to which she said "No thanks." Well, I didn't want to be a pest, so I walked up the street, and waited for someone else (noticing that for the next 5 minutes the woman just stood at the corner of Jack Rose doing nothing).

Eventually I made eye contact with a man walking down the street in no hurry, and learning from my previous mistake, launched into "Hi, I'd like to give you $10 as part of the Worldwide Day of Giving." Well, that didn't work--he just kept walking without responding.

So I decided to take a walk of my own as I was having no luck at my current location. I walked around the block, and found myself near a service entrance of the Hilton Sport & Health Club. I spotted Sam quickly eating a meal while standing, presumably during a short break he had. Sam was very friendly, and didn't seem bothered by my interrupting him. I explained what I was doing and he seemed very interested in the project.

He said he works part time there at the gym (I assumed as a trainer, as he is a very fit/muscular man, but I actually forgot to ask what he does there). He works full time near the district courthouse with child services? I wish I was more outgoing and talked with him longer, but he finished his food, and I didn't want to hold him up.

I wonder if I'll do this again next year. The thought crossed my mind that my brother is so much better at this, that I may fund him to do it for me next year. In fact, I wonder if others felt the same way, if he could raise enough money to do it full-time. I suppose not, as it would take so much more than $10/day to pay him a comfortable wage.

Tagged with blog, family, Worldwide Day of Giving, Year of Giving