Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

                                                                                                  
            
 
Last weekend I sold bracelets at the Woodward Dream Cruise, a classic car event that brings in about a million spectators. Friday night’s sales were going pretty well, despite the wind that wanted to wreck my display. I had two small tables set up in front of “The Avenue” (if you’re in Michigan you should check it out-wonderful people!) with Threads of Hope and World Race literature and, of course, the bracelets. As people approached the table I would tell them about what I was doing and answer any questions they had. If they wanted to hear about it, great, if they didn’t, I wasn’t going to push.
…until Anna. It was about 8pm and getting dusk. Over the sounds of classic rock, the revving of engines, and people enjoying the night, I heard a violin playing I Could Have Danced All Night. “Odd choice of music for the Dream Cruise,” I thought. As I turned to my right I realized it was not coming from a car, but from a middle aged woman standing on the grass playing her violin as though there was nothing else going on around her. “Huh,” I thought, “what kind of freedom would that take? What lack of self-consciousness must that require? I can’t imagine doing that.” I spent the next few minutes enjoying her music and wondering about her story as I tended to my sales. Then, without my realizing, the music stopped.

“So what’s this all about?” asked Anna, standing next to my booth, violin in hand. I told her a bit about my trip to which she responded, “Well you need to be louder! Start getting people’s attention.”

Taken aback I stuttered, ” No no, this is just my style. I want to be respectful of the restaurant owners. I just talk to people when they come to the table. It’s been working.”

Clearly unsatisfied with my response and my support raising style, Anna began loudly shouting “This girl’s going on a mission trip! She’s going to India and Pakistan!” (And for the second time in a couple weeks I had to correct someone that no, I’m not going to Pakistan). Anna then proceeded to stop people in their tracks on the narrow sidewalk. If they said they didn’t have a dollar, it was “How about a quarter? A nickel?” There were no excuses in Anna’s book and “no” was not an acceptable answer to her request to donate.  And to me? A neverending message that, “You need to talk! Be louder! Start talking to people!”

I wanted to throw up. I WAS talking. Well, I was talking to the people that wanted to be talked to, right?  My calm evening of fundraising (an evening that in and of itself already provoked anxiety in me) was now my own personal night of torture. My face flushed, my heart raced, and I began to pray to God. “God, please make this stop. God please make her go away. Please help my parents get here faster. Please help me know how to bless her. I know her intentions are good, God, but make her stop!”

In hindsight, I imagine God shaking his head, a sly smile on his face saying “Oh Heidi…”

Want to hear what happened? Stay tuned for part 2…