Last night, my sweet friend Jody Bergsma and I went to see Sex and the City II. We got somewhat dressed up, snuck exotic snacks into the theater and giggled about how much fun 2 hours of brainless entertainment would be. Despite having 88% cocao, organic, fair-trade chocolate secreted in our bags, there is some brain chemistry that shouts “I MUST HAVE JUNK FOOD!” when heading into a theater. Jody succumbed and purchased and entire carton of Dibs. If you haven’t had Dibs, I would recommend not ever starting. Like heroin, they are addicting at first bite. Jody, being a good friend (similar to Lucifer and Jesus in the Desert), tried to entice me into having just one. Having weaned myself off of those diabolical treats once in my past, I wasn’t about to start. Plus, despite the treadmill desk and bread being back in my life, I still have the metabolism of a 78 year old and gain weight just looking. So, I declined. Jody has stronger will-power than me though and only needed a few Dibs to satisfy her craving. When I didn’t take her offer to share, turned around to the entire theater and shouted “Hey! Anyone want to share these with me?” Before long, the carton of Dibs was making it back, row after row, with people in each row taking just one Dibs and passing the sweet goodness along.
Two things happened: 1. You could hear the delight and merriment as the Dibs made it to the next row, the burble of happy talking and 2. As we heard the merriment spread, Jody and I started grinning like fools. I excitedly exclaimed to her, “You’re spreading Happy Pixie-Dibs Dust all over the theater!” (Not my most intelligent comment ever but it described the situation perfectly.) We both were reminded that sharing feels good.
Then we settled in to watch the previews. But, a funny thing happened. We heard rustling many many rows back and the same phrase being repeated over and over again, drawing closer to our row, “Give the Popcorn to the BonBon Lady“. And, finally, a nice little ‘to go’ container of Popcorn arrived at our seat. We heard people in the rows behind us sharing their popcorn with multiple rows, “Here, want some popcorn?” An hour into the movie, the process repeated itself and we found ourselves with another offering of popcorn.
Jody’s simple gift of sharing with strangers transformed an entire side of the theater into giving, sharing people. And for just those three hours, our sense of community was deepened and broadened through her act of giving. And, as cheesy at is sounds, I’m going to look for opportunities to spread Happy Pixie-Dib Dust around more often.
Wow. Um, yeah. I hated it. I really expected better. I try super hard to be ultra positive and find the silver lining in things but really, the only lining I could find here was that I had a great time with my friends and we had a wonderful, life-affirming experience at the theater because of the sharing. The movie itself was disappointing.
Curious to know how that goes. I am convinced that most children at the age of 5 can learn those kinds of lessons and understand them. Whether they have the willpower and reasoning abilities to follow through yet is another story but every little positive story and example helps to build lifelong good habits. Gotta start them early! =)
Oh my goodness, not only am I insane frugal (my COO just got his first “real” chair in 12 years. He was sitting on a free one we got from a dumpster 12 years ago) but so much of the food at the theater is tempting AND not good for me. So, yes, definitely sneaking food in. =)
Great story Anne-Marie!
But… what did you think of the movie? My sister went to see it with some girl friends and they HATED it…nearly walked out in the middle.
Awesome. It made mine feel better too so that’s two of us. 🙂
Happy Soaping!
Anne-Marie
http://www.brambleberry.com
Blog: http://www.soapqueen.com
In this case, we even got some popcorn in exchange so it worked out
even better than expected. 🙂
Happy Soaping!
Anne-Marie
http://www.brambleberry.com
Blog: http://www.soapqueen.com
I know! When I think of all the times I sat at the movies with a half-
eaten nag if popcorn and didn’t share? Well, I have a lot of catching
up to do. 🙂
Happy Soaping!
Anne-Marie
http://www.brambleberry.com
Blog: http://www.soapqueen.com
What a great post!
My five year old niece is going through a “not sharing” phase right now and we are trying to snap her out of it. We were at the movies on Sunday and she was reluctant to share her popcorn with ME! I was crushed cause we are very close and always share.
This story reminded me of her, I’ll try to re-tell it maybe she’ll be motivated by the joys of sharing.
Thanks for all the sharing you do Anne-Marie 🙂
Aside from the uplifting and delightful message of the story, I loved it because . . . I’m glad to know there are people who still sneak goodies into the theater like we do. 🙂
This story really made me smile.
Jody is great! How do you know her, or are you one of her art fans? Yes, I am lucky that she’s a friend. She is always so positive, fun and upbeat – hanging out with her is like a happy shot in the arm all the time.
I just bought that book! I am even more excited to read it now.
And Dibs … they’re delicious in a trashy-candy sort of way. You can get addicted quick. =)
You’re right – totally simple. It’s easy to forget that sometimes all it takes is easy and simple to improve something.
And in this case, we even received a bit (of popcorn!) in return. =)
Isn’t that great? The ripple effect can go far and wide and when it’s for a positive thing, everyone wins. =)
Thanks! It was super hard not to have any but I knew if I had any that it would be quite a few of them (and not just one).
It was so interesting that everyone started to share everything they had with perfect strangers. It was definitely a ‘pay it forward’ effect.
The peace molds are cute, aren’t they?
Jody is so awesome…. so inspiring… so alive… so loving.. .giving.. funny. Every day I am inspired by her in some way. She’s the best, and you are so blessed to be her friend and to be able to hang out with her! Thanks for sharing this sweet and funny story. I love it. Makes me wanna do it too.
This reminds me of some of the lessons/stories in The Happiness Project! Love it! Just making the others happy would have been great in and of itself, but to be rewarded with popcorn too, well, that’s really icing on top of the cupcake. 😉
I’ve never had Dibs before…now I’m curious about them. LOL!
I love it! So simple but so great.
That is an awesome story. 🙂 It is better to give than receive. 😉
That is wonderful!!! Thank you so much for sharing this with us 😀 xxx
So simple, yet so profound. Reminds me – we have a new youth pastor at our church. Taught the middle school kids a new game. One of the moms told me her son has taught all his friends at school and now they all play it. All because of one new positive influence. Way to go!!!
That is so nice. 🙂 reading this made my day feel better.
Sharing is positive and contagious! Love it, and good job on resisting eating the Happy Pixie Dib Dust. You got to enjoy it in a different way.
Oh what a neat story about everyone sharing. I love when things like that happen and it causes a trickle effect.
That’s a great story! And, oh my goodness, I’m going to have to check out those peace molds!