Free Money

• I plan on approaching people inside a Target.
• I will approach people who look like they are in their twenties or thirties. Also, I will only approach people in groups of one or two.
• To get the conversation started, I will tell them that I lost a bet and now I must give a dollar away to a stranger.
• My plan is to mention the bet, and then just offer the person one dollar.
• I assume that I will be able to give away four of the five dollars.

 On my first attempt, the person laughed when I told him that I lost a bet, but then said "Nah, I'm good." The second person that I approached was a Target employee. This person also did not accept the dollar. He said that he did not think he could accept money from customers, because he is an employee. The third approach that I made was a couple of college student. The girl originally took the dollar, but then she asked me if it was a scam. I told her that it was not a scam, I was just giving away money. After that, she decided to give the dollar back to me anyways. The fourth person that I spoke to was a college-aged girl who was by herself. I told her that I had lost a bet and had to give a dollar to a random person. She responded positively and took the dollar. The last approach I made was to a man who was with a woman. He took the dollar as well, and the entire interaction was very short.

This exercise was very awkward, because people typically don't try to give money away to strangers. Therefore, people don't understand the situation and don't know how to respond to it. Giving away a dollar is much harder than I thought it would be, just because it is a strange situation. My prediction was incorrect, as my success rate was half of what I predicted. My prediction was too high, because I underestimated just how awkward the situation would be. I assumed that people who didn't take the money would be more dismissive and rude than they were. While only two of the five people took the dollar, all five of them were very nice.