Vacation

Chapter Six

"If you started sobbing uncontrollably out on the street outside of this restaurant, what do you think people would do?" Patty asked on Tuesday morning.

Allison shrugged. "I don't know."

"Would they ignore you? Would they ask if you were alright? Would they make fun of you? What would they do?" Patty asked. "Hold on." She got up and went into the kitchen. When she came back, she was holding a knife and an onion. "Let's find out."

Allison rolled her eyes and laughed. Patty always came up with the weirdest activities.

Allison and Patty went outside of the restaurant. Patty smirked as she cut the onion right in Allison's face, making her tear up.

Patty hid the onion behind her. "Now sob dramatically," she told Allison.

Allison made a big show of crying. She sniffled, wiped her eyes, and ran her hands through her hair.

They stayed outside for ten minutes while Allison cried and Patty counted the things that people did.

After that, they back inside the restaurant and sat down at a table.

"Seventeen people ignored you," Patty said. "Two people made fun of you. And thirty four people showed sympathy in some way, as in asking if you were okay or giving you a pat on the back."

"How does this make me believe in myself?" Allison asked.

"I remember you told me that your bullies made you feel worthless," Patty said. "This experiment shows you that more than not, people will go up to a complete stranger and feel empathy, show sympathy, and just plain care. This is because every human being is significant. You are a creation, made special by the hands of God, and that means you are not worthless."

Allison felt her eyes tear up for the second time today, but this time, it wasn't because of an onion. Patty's words were so inspiring and motivating. "Thanks, Patty."

"No problem," Patty smiled.

For the rest of the time, Allison and Patty talked about simpler things, like what was Patty's favorite TV show (cartoons) or what was the best item on the menu (the Italian sandwiches). Patty then decided to call Josh and invite him to have lunch at the restaurant with them.

Allison watched Josh walk in. He was dressed in some sort of athletic uniform.

Patty went to kitchen and started making Italian sandwiches for the three of them while Allison and Josh chatted.

"What's your uniform for?" Allison asked him.

"I decided to join a beach volleyball team for my time in Florida," Josh said. "It's really fun. Today we're playing the Miami beach volleyball team. You should come and play. We're just playing at the beach we went to two days ago."

"Really? Would they let me on the team?" Allison asked.

"Yeah," Josh nodded. "It's just a pickup game, really. Just for fun. I'm heading over after lunch. Are you coming?"

Allison thought about it for a moment. She had never been good at sports, because she was so not athletic. She had absolutely no coordination, so she couldn't catch, throw, or dribble well.

But she also liked hanging out with Josh, and she thought it would be fun to play volleyball with him.

"Yeah, I'll come with you," Allison told him.

Josh smiled. "Cool. I'll get you a uniform when we go there."

Patty came back with their sandwiches. They ate quickly and said goodbye to Patty, telling her that her sandwiches were really good.