Tidal Basin (Photo: Reed)
Last Thursday was April Fool’s Day. I decided to do the tourist thing here in DC and check out the cherry blossom mania down by the Tidal Basin. I took my camera down there and pretended to know what I was doing. I got a couple of shots…but I am still learning a lot about how to fully use my camera to take better photographs.
Photo courtesy of Donna and John
Anyway, as I was walking around I was asked to take a photo of a young couple, Donna and John. I obliged and then asked them to accept my $10. John’s reaction was amazing. He was the first person who I have approached about receiving my $10 who actually knew about the Year of Giving. He said he read about it I think on Yahoo! News. Looking back on it I might have taken advantage of the April Fool’s date and said, “Hah! I’m not that guy giving $10! April Fools!” But I wasn’t that quick-witted to deliver such a line.
Me with Donna and John (Photo: Kimon Kanelakis)
I’m glad I didn’t do that because then I wouldn’t have learned what a great couple they are. John works for the government and Donna is studying hearing and speech science. She wants to eventually work in audiology and do newborn hearing screenings. In fact if anyone knows anyone else who is in this field in the DC area and might perhaps be a good contact for Donna, she would really appreciate your help. She hopes to get an internship or job this summer doing newborn screening.
Check out this video of the cherry blossoms and a brief interview with Donna and John. They have a great story about finding love amidst struggling economic times after the subprime mortgage crisis. They are not sure what they will do with the $10 yet, but as you will see in the clip, they agreed to update us once they have decided.
On a separate note, I updated the Statistics page…sorry that was pretty outdated. Average age has stayed pretty consistent and so did the number one answer for where the money will go: “Food & Beverage”. “Gave the Money to Someone Else” has become the second most common response, replacing “Transportation.”
Year of Giving 