Ding Dong Dash

BY PAUL CURRINGTON

 The only thing that consistently saves me from myself is connection to others.  Even the slightest connection is often enough to get me out of my head and the personal apocalypse I think I’m living in. When I’m buying something I don’t need on Amazon what I most look forward to is knowing that in a few days, a human being is going to show up on my doorstep who I could wave at.

 This summer I started wondering if I could create some kind of connection with coworkers without having to get a part-time job at UPS. As I thought about the ways I might be able to do this, I realized one of the things I missed most was the feeling I get when someone brings cookies to work. If you work in an office, you’ve seen the smiles and heard the little yelps of joy when people find a plate of treats in the kitchen. 

 Since I don’t bake, I went out and grabbed the most ridiculous treats I could find that would bring a smile to everyone. Big boxes of little bags of chips were the first thing I threw in the cart. Fritos, Doritos, Nachos, basically anything ending in “os”. Nuts were next. Theoretically, they’re healthier than chips and it’s important to not send my friends into a carb coma.

 Next stop was the Hostess section. Everyone loves a Ding Dong. Even if they hate Ding Dongs, they love saying Ding Dong so it’s just as good. Twinkies are good too. Not to eat, just to say. It’s fun to say, “I just left two Ding Dongs and a Twinkie on your doorstep.” Trust me. Even people who hate Ding Dongs and Twinkies love to get a text message with the words Ding Dong and Twinkie in it.

  The next day I spent two hours driving around leaving 4-5 bags of treats on coworkers’ doorsteps. If I was lucky, they were home, and I’d get to wave at them from the street. If they weren’t home, they got a text message from the Snack Fairy. It was one of the happiest days I’ve had during the pandemic. Over the last few months, I’ve made more deliveries than I can count. Over Christmas, I got some paperclips and hung the snacks from trees in people’s front yards. I don’t think any delivery cost me more than 50 cents.

 What I’ve discovered over the past few months is that people don’t really care about the snacks I’m giving them. What they’re responding to is the knowledge that someone was thinking of them. Somebody somewhere thought they were important enough to put on pants, go to the grocery store, and drive around town delivering food they didn’t really need.

 When people ask me why I keep doing this I answer honestly. I say I miss seeing my friends at work and this is as close as I can get to recreating that meeting-in-the-kitchen feeling. It feels like I’m putting all my loneliness into little bags of chips. And when those little bags are opened that loneliness is transformed into surprise and joy.

 The inside of my head has always been a dangerous neighborhood. The only way out is by connecting with others. For me, the best way to do that has been to see it as a twist on the golden rule. Do unto others and you will do unto yourself. Don’t wait for others to reach out. Be the first responder. Run into the burning building we’re all living in right now with a bag of chips and a handful of Ding Dongs. It’s up to us to create the connection we need to get through each day.

A storyteller and TEDx speaker coach, Paul Currington decided to start sharing his own story of his “lifelong friendship with depression” after an attempted suicide. He sought help and also began treating his depression like an addiction. Today, he says his life has never been better. Even though he still has an occasional bad day, he doesn’t let himself fall into a pain spiral. He says instead of wishing he was happy he now does things that make him happy.