I have just moved into a new ward. A grand adventure that is proving to be just that. I fully intended to join and have insta-friends left and right and just get to have fun all the time. Now anyone can testify that making new friends takes effort. For better or for worse, it is rare that two people meet and then they are inseparable. Right? That is like one, maybe two, in a life time. Needless to say, making new friends is way more difficult than I remember. Not just the 'Oh hey!' from across the parking lot friends, but the late night, secret telling, blast music in the car and carb ingesting type of friends. It just takes time, which is great, but it has only been like two weeks in my new place. I believe I have started to make great friends in the ward, we just aren't on the call them over to veg together level yet. So, for an ultra social person like myself, I have started to get a little restless and maybe even started doubting my friend forging abilities.
This all leads to my story. Today I went to the mall with a long time friend. We went shoe shopping for me. We went into Journeys(z?) just to take a peek on what they had out. There, as usual, a salesman came up and started asking what we were looking for. Having just bought a pair of shoes elsewhere, I responded with a polite, 'We're just looking, thank you' to which he replied 'Looking is usually how you start shopping so you are on the right track!' This salesman was younger, stylishly dressed and had double nose studs, which I am still trying to figure out how it works. From there he went on to pitch 'no-show socks'. For YEARS I have worn my Costco ankle socks with whatever shoes I have on and not cared one bit if they showed. But this was the second time in one shopping trip that it had come up. Naturally I start to become painfully aware of my very visible socks. So being the forthright person I am, we start a friendly conversation about socks. It was lively and we got some other employees on it. We had a great time laughing and comparing socks and shoes, with mini discussions concerning the purpose of certain socks and the versatility of others. It was ridiculous, filled with jokes, stories, laughing and was completely refreshing.
This stranger (I don't even know his name) was so nice and charismatic that carrying on a conversation was barely even a conscious decision, all in the middle of a store, in the middle of the mall in the middle of a Saturday. I left just feeling good...and with a some new, no-show socks. (He totally convinced me!) I will probably never see that nice person again but I have a renewed sense of 'I can do this' attitude. So thanks friendly stranger just doing his job. You made my day and much more.
They have them for boys and in black too...if you are interested.
