So how did you celebrate Buy Nothing Day? I dutifully stayed home and bought nothing, just worked on a wedding reception dance playlist for my father-in-law's wedding (how many 80's hits can I find? lol). My husband, on the other hand, had to go to work and they decided to celebrate their last day of training by going out to lunch.
They decided to go to a place in downtown Nanaimo called The Thirsty Camel. They make excellent Middle Eastern food featuring locally grown free-range chicken, fair trade coffee, many vegetarian options and other delights of my heart. John, who always orders a burger no matter where he is, ordered a falafel, which he has never had before, and loved it. This is a big deal because when I make things with chickpeas he's not always super thrilled, so it must be good.
The beautiful part of this story is that they were celebrating Buy Nothing Day too. ALL the food was free, in exchange for anything you had to trade besides money. His buddy from work ordered first, and happened to have a $10 gift certificate for the mall. Then John's turn came, and he couldn't think of anything.
"We'll take anything," they said, "It can be a poem even, or a flower."
"I do have something that is special to me," he replied, "It's not worth much, but it's special to me."
"What is it? We would love it."
He pulled his Aero bar from his pocket, which he had been saving all day, and handed it to them.
"I will give you my Aero bar, but I just want you to know how special it is to me."
They gladly took it and gave him a free, healthy meal. Then John's other buddy went, and he didn't have anything, but he said, "Hang on, I'll be right back." He ran back to work, and brought back a lovely wooden case full of harmonicas. He happens to be a very good harmonica player and entertained the whole restaurant for his meal (evidently he takes his harmonicas everywhere).
This story absolutely made my day. I wish more people had been able to experience this kind of day, rather than what I read about later in the paper about a Long Island man dying in Wal-Mart stampedes and crowds so greedy for a good deal they can't even stop to see if someone was ok.
So...my husband also told them that his wife would write about The Thirsty Camel on her very busy website, and I am! If you're ever in Nanaimo, go there - they are awesome. :)
Coming Next Year!
That was very inspiring of them! Worth the mention.
I loved that story. It was great. Sad at the end about crazy walmart stampedes... that's just insane. I've never been out shopping on the day after thanksgiving in my entire life. It just sounds crazy... I mean, to think of leaving the turkey stuffing leftovers unguarded.... insanity!
That is such an amazing story. I would love to see more of that.
Do Nanaimo bars come from Nanaimo? The coffee shops and bakeries here in Minnesota are making them now, and my Canadian neighbor says they're very popular in Canada. They're uber-sweet but yummy in small doses...
Nanaimo Bars DO come from Nanaimo, lol.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanaimo_bar
I can only take a bite of those things before I am overwhelmed, lol. It's kind of funny that the most overpoweringly rich dessert comes from here.