171 Marbles (and Counting)

These graphics were produced by one of our teen leaders. Help them meet their goal of serving 2000 snow cones this summer.

Every summer, we add snow cones to our Sidewalk Hospitality gatherings.

They join our usual lineup of coffee, lemonade, and popcorn, and provide a small, sweet treat to anyone who happens to stop by on a warm day.

And, if I'm being honest, they're a treat for us too.

Our teen volunteers love to make them. They enjoy grinding the ice, filling each cup, and pouring brightly colored syrups over the white mound.

Last week, we served snow cones to families looking for a reason to leave the house. To construction workers who needed something cold on a hot afternoon. To our mailman. To a woman looking for a writing group. To small children out for a walk. And to many, many more.

Here's something you might not know: We count every snow cone we serve.

We count because each one represents a neighbor we met, a conversation we might have missed, and an opportunity for us to honor the humanity in someone else.

We count with marbles.

One marble per snow cone gets dropped into a large glass jar. It's simple technology, but it documents something profound. As the jar fills, we’re visually reminded of the growing connections in our community.

This past Saturday, our teens noticed the jar had become heavy. So they poured it out, counted, and discovered we'd served 171 snow cones so far this summer.

They got so excited by our success that they set a big, audacious goal. They want to serve 2,000 by summer's end. One teen leader was feeling particularly fired up, so he made the graphics that appear at the top of this post.

I love this for a lot of reasons, but here's the one I keep returning to.

There's a growing body of research exploring what social scientists call "casual contacts." Casual contacts are brief, low-stakes encounters we have with people who are neither family nor close friends. The stranger along the street. The person waiting next to us in the checkout line. Researchers are learning that these small exchanges have a real, measurable effect on our mood and our sense of belonging, and that they may be one of the most underused tools we have for pushing back against the loneliness so many are quietly carrying.

That means the teenagers grinding ice on the sidewalk aren't just handing out a summer treat. They're serving an antidote to our lonely and divided moment.

So here's my invitation to you: Come get your dose. 

We're here every Tuesday and Saturday all summer. Stop by, say hello, and let us hand you a free, fresh snow cone. Don't worry about the syrup. We've got plenty. So much, in fact, that we've started organizing our stock by the gallon.

If we don’t see you, we just might lose our marbles.

And if we do, we promise to add one to the jar — just for you.