How to get attention in Tennessee

Today was surprising. I haven't ever had so many strangers stop me and strike up a conversation. I am a generally shy person in public. I'm social in comfortable situations with my friends and when I need to be. My family friend Bev, Uncle Bob's wife, came and picked me up. Her mission was a new refrigerator. Her's broke this morning and Uncle Bob is out of town so it seemed like the perfect time to get the one she wanted.

She called me this morning and was telling me the story of how she just had a ten minute phone conversation with a stranger about her fridge problems. The woman on the other line listened and agreed the whole time before she asked who it was that had called her. That's exactly how people are here. She thought she was speaking to a friend and was trying to figure out who it was. After they realized it was a mis-dail they continued the conversation and Bev thanked her and the woman replied, "Well, I'm just happy I helped you solve your problem." This would never happen in California.

We made our way down to the mall where Sears is located since Bev had decided she wanted a fridge like mine. Fancy French doors on top and a freezer drawer on the bottom. It's really awesome and great for me since I cook a lot. I picked it out for my father back when he needed a new fridge in his California house. I got a matching one for my apartment at the time.

After that adventure we made our way into the main mall for some real shopping. Williams-Sonoma, Sephora, The Body Shop etc. I got stopped four times in the mall by women in groups and all ages. The topic of conversation was my hair...? I learned how to braid my hair a bunch of ways as a kid by my now former stepmom who was a hair dresser. Since I didn't see her very often, I asked her to teach me how to braid my own hair as it can be harder than learning on someone else. It's my lazy girl hair-do. I had no idea it would be a conversation starter, and that these conversations would each last at least five minutes.

Monique used to call me to come over to braid her hair this way when she was going on dates with her babydaddy. It was then I learned that not every little girl knows how to do it. The four groups at the mall all had quite involved conversations with me about it. I was just lazy and didn't want to blow dry it today. I had no idea that it was something fashion forward to them. The girl at Sephora looked so sad as I walked away. Bev said that she was about to tell me just to braid her hair for her. I think she would have paid me to teach her. She said she has tried online videos etc and failed. Today, it was an inside out French braid crown that makes my hair look like it is longer than it is. Monique's favorite braid.

The women are so nice here and unafraid to approach people. It's a far cry from California where you're more likely to just get stares of envious girls. They would never say anything to a stranger to make them feel like they were being nice or complimentary to someone else. California girls are so competitive. I quite like talking to random people. I thought Bev was going to tell me to take my hair down after dinner where I was stopped by another two women who both told me long sweet stories about how they braided their daughters hair the same way. She can't take me anywhere!