Bribe, Trade, Opportunity

Last week I squeezed an additional, curious task into my routine of frequent meetings in local coffee shops.  I hung some posters.

Yeah, it's not all that extraordinary.  A nearby San Diego theatre had sent out an email with the tantalizing offer of free tickets to a play if you hung up posters.  Um, sure, I thought!  After all, I go to (or near) lots of prime places every week.  I replied to the marketing rep and got the scoop.  10 posters.  List your locations of choice.  Provide photographic evidence.  Pick your play and performance time.

I did a quick mental calculation, to make sure that the time it took would not exceed the cost of paying cash money for tickets.  I was definitely in the black.  However,  the possibility of side benefits didn't even cross my mind.  You see, as I tromped in and out of coffee shops, ice cream parlors and a token pub, I got to be the instigator of conversation.  "Would you mind if I hang a poster about an upcoming play?"

"What play?" 
"Where?" 
"Are you an actor?" 
"I LOVE theatre, you know!  It's like my life!" 
"They used to offer us free tickets sometimes."
"It's nice to meet you!"
"Let us know about the next one, too, okay?"

When I downloaded the photos from my camera to prove that the mission was accomplished, my chest welled with joy-- not just for being frugal or earning myself a classy evening, but for having encountered new people in the city.  Maybe it's from growing up in a small town, but apparently something in me warms to knowing people (is it in everyone?  I think not, for the millions who at least claim to crave anonymity in places like Manhattan.).  I post about it because I was struck by yet another way of knowing a place.  Not something I ever read about in community development strategies, but an "in" and an excuse for random interaction.  Sure, not everyone was helpful or willing, but most were.  As I tallied up my posted posters, it made a new kind of map-- a map of requests and transactions without money.  A map of learning a place through a completely different lens.

Without a moment's hesitation, I will do this again.  Who would have guessed that I would get to know shops and sidewalks around town in order to see classic theater for FREE?  An all-around win!