Storytelling is a shared experience. It requires both a teller and a listener. It creates connections. Even in the most unlikely places.

Yesterday I stopped into my neighborhood burger joint to grab a takeout lunch. I paid with a hundred dollar bill. The gentleman who took my order, scanned the bill over a little device and joked to me, “Looks like you didn’t counterfeit this bill.”

His comment brought back a memory. The place was empty so I shared my recollection of working as a babysitter for a hip young couple who’d just moved to my little town.

My mom wasn’t happy about me working for them. They stayed out really late. And there were always strangers dropping by when I was there, supposedly to “get something” from the locked basement. But they paid really well.

It turned out my mom wasn’t wrong about them. My babysitting career came to an end when the hip young couple was hauled off to prison for running a counterfeiting operation in that locked basement.

A shared experience

About the time I finished my story my lunch was ready to go. I drove home only to discover there was something wrong with my order. So I called the restaurant.

The gentleman who’d taken my order answered the phone. Recognizing my voice he said he’d have to check on what they could do, adding, “Not everyone here knows you like I do, you know, over the counterfeiting thing.” 

Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch

I laughed.

I ended up getting a free burger. Was it because I built a relationship with my storytelling? I can’t prove it. But I’m sure it didn’t hurt.

Now I’m wondering how much of my babysitting money was counterfeit.

How about you? Did you have a job as a teenager? Was anything about it unusual?

P.S. When you’re ready to tell your stories so you can make authentic connections with your customers, I can help. Schedule a no obligation 30 minute call to find out more.