A friend and I had the opportunity to participate in something pretty special on Saturday called Gifts for Strangers, an annual event that Improv in Toronto started last year. Basically what happens is people buy/make and wrap Christmas presents, attach handwritten and heartfelt cards, and hand them out to strangers in the street. The moment I heard about this event I knew it was something I would love to be a part of. One, because I like talking to strangers. Strangers are like wrapped presents to me; they’re good friends that I haven’t yet met. Two, because doing something to reinstate people’s faith in humanity is always rewarding and usually good fun.
It turns out this event was awesome before it began. On Friday while buying gifts in China town, two guys walked in and one asked the cashier if they sold gloves. They didn’t, and as the guys turned their backs to leave I asked what kind of gloves. “Anything. My hands are freezing, even those small black ones would be great.” I reached into my bag of goodies and handed him a pair of gloves that I had purchased 10 minutes earlier. He offered to pay, but to his surprise I told him not to worry and wished him “merry Christmas.” The cashier, whose Mandarin was better than her English, seemed nonplussed and asked me if I knew him. I hope that most of her customers speak Mandarin, because a few minutes later I discovered that she did indeed sell gloves…
Matt and I met the other 40 anonymous gift-givers around 3pm and then as they split up to find strangers, Matt and I found a hotel lobby so we could finish writing cards and wrapping our 21 presents.
After our first prospect - 30th in line for the hotel desk - declined our gift offer we set out determinedly into the cold afternoon at dusk. We quickly made up for it by locating a young family of three in a restaurant, wishing them a “merry Christmas,” and handing them a hand-written note with a wrapped $25 gift certificate for that restaurant. They weren’t sure what to think of us, but they thanked us and as we exited we saw their little girl reading the card. Don’t worry, we made sure to suggest they open the present before they leave.
Other gifts that we gave, most around $2 or $3, included gloves, a warm ear band, a kid-sized Moose U-pillow, coloured candles, playing cards and, of course, chocolate.
It was a real adventure though, finding the right stranger for every gift, getting great reactions from kids and adults alike, and convincing people that we weren’t asking for anything in return. As I knew from hitchhiking, not everyone is equally open with strangers and we definitely had our innocent offers turned down a couple times. It may have helped had we worn Santa hats and began before nightfall; note to self for next year. That said, we found the right home for every gift and those who were open enough to accept our gifts, were clearly grateful. One family of four by the skating rink at city hall responded “you guys just made our night!” A man in a wheelchair admitted that he hadn’t received gifts the two previous years and another thankful man gave us a hug and said he was going to be overseas for Christmas. Many good wishes were wished and many genuine smiles were shared among unknown friends that evening, even with bystanders pleased by the spontaneous giving.
As for those with more modest reactions, when they’ve opened their gift and accepted that there was no catch, they too will feel the love. Each of us is loved, and a little less fear and more attentiveness helps us recognize it. I hope that one day, armed with another bagful of goodies, I run into you on the street, or anywhere really. Merry Christmas!
http://giftsforstrangers.org/
P.S. Not surprisingly, a lot of people enjoy spreading the love. 20 people participated in Gifts for Strangers last year and this December there were 23 cities around the world running the event.
