Friend #8

I have to admit, since I started this project new faces have been placed in front of me very easily. The hard part (and most awkward for my new friends I imagine) is the engagement of conversation with a stranger.
Today I got a phone call at work. I hate phone calls at work because they're either solicitations for fund raising (how did I become the fund raiser at my school again???) or a school nurse telling me to pick up one of my sick children. But today was a good-phone-call day.
Her name is Julia and she is a marketing person for the Phoenix Suns. Earlier in the school year I was contacted by one of Julia's "fund raiser marketers" (See? I told you!). He wanted me to sell Suns tickets for "only $40" and we'd make a small profit if we sold 50 or more, yadda yadda yadda. Well, being the protege of a fabulous Southern Belle - Wendy! - I quickly turned that call around to see what the Phoenix Suns could do for me. Five days later, I was getting a VIP tour of the Suns stadium, complete with gear for my students. Wendy has taught me well.
After this visit, I was contacted by Julia who now understood that my students are not financially well-off and that a fund raiser would never happen. Instead, she offered all employees of my company discounted tickets!
We played Voice Mail Tag many many times. Each time, her messages were extremely pleasant, as if discounting tickets was the greatest job on earth!
During our actual phone conversation today, she invited me to tomorrow's game and to meet for coffee beforehand. You see, she was amazed that someone could flip a sales call around so easily and wants to meet me to find out how she and the Suns can further help students like mine!
What should have been a five minute conversation turned into an hour. Julia is from Iowa, which has no pro teams, so she grew up rooting for Minnesota teams. She has two boys; I have two boys. She wants chickens; I have chickens! And I think she loves Led Zeppelin as much as I do (her 'on hold' song was Black Dog).
I have a feeling that tomorrow night's coffee meeting will be the start of a fun friendship!