GISHWHES - Day 3

This is the third day of GISHWHES 2013 and I must say I have had an absolute blast with all of the people I've met thus far and working on the tasks at hand. One common question I've been getting from people not involved with GISHWHES is "Why?"

Granted, from the outside looking it, some of the items on the scavenger hunt that we're meant to find are a bit, well, odd, so people don't always see the draw of it. How are these tasks doing any good? How could making yourself into a dessert or creating a bathing suit out of toast really be doing the world any good? How could dressing as a pirate at the DMV be making the world a better world? After all, this is associated with Random Acts of Kindness, so this is (ultimately) all for charity. Shouldn't this seem more like work and volunteering than having fun and doing silly things?

For me, this is about being able to connect with other people.

Not just the wonderful people that I've met through my team, but also the people I've met while actually working on the tasks. While I dressed my car up as a "prom date" I actually had the chance to talk with my neighbors (something I really don't do all that often, if ever). When I was buying some of the most random things at Target, I started talking with a few of the employees that were dying to know what I would need all of this stuff for. I've made people smile. I've learned about friends that have gone bunjee jumping and learned amazing stories as to why they did it in the first place. I've met friends of friends of friends that I would never have known that are willing ot lend me a Stormtrooper costume. I'm also going to really be able help bring a smile to peoples' faces when I go to try to cheer up a patient while they are undergoing their dialysis treatment.

I've also been amazed by the community that has sprung up from my own team. We've been in touch with government officials, NASA, scientists, Oscar winners, pilots, CEO's and so many other amazing people that I would never have thought to be able to reach. The number of people from these organizations that have been willing to help us out with somewhat (extremely) insane tasks has been amazing. Having never participated before, when I first saw the list of items and some of the people that we would need to get involved, I panicked (even though the commandments quite clearly states "Don't Panic"). I didn't see how there was any way to get this all accomplished. And, in the past three short days, I've been blown away by the number of people willing to participate.

GISHWHES isn't just about doing somewhat ridiculous tasks for the sake of being strange. It actually does help make the world a better place.