30
TARA
We’d settled on a Wednesday night for The Friendship Pod – not so early in the week that people couldn’t be bothered to come out and not so late that it was likely to clash with other plans, although that was perhaps a moot point because those with other plans were unlikely to be the ones seeking out friendships.
For the first meeting, the attendees would be making a batch of scones – fruit, plain or cheese depending on their taste preferences. All the mixing would be done by hand so there’d be no noisy equipment making it impossible to talk. The waiting time while the scones baked would also allow plenty of opportunity for conversation.
I’d toyed with making it a ticketed event but, after debating the pros and cons with Carly and Bethany, decided on ajust turn upapproach for the first meeting. I always held a good stock of ingredients so there wasn’t any danger of running out and I couldn’t imagine a scenario where there’d be more people than we had room for. The first meeting would be free to attend with complimentary drinks but we were working on a pricing strategy for future meetings.
Anastasia was coming but had admitted to being nervous. I’d given a flyer to Colin who’d said he’d think about it and there were a few regular customers who always came in on their own who’d expressed interest. Bethany had designed a fabulous logo, set up profiles on social media and had distributed posters and flyers to all the independent businesses including those beyond Castle Street so hopefully we’d have some takers. I was hoping for at least a dozen but was fully prepared to start small and grow.
Although the space upstairs would be ideal for future sessions, it made more sense for a cooking session to be on the ground floor with easy access to the kitchen.
‘Nervous?’ Carly asked when I counted the stack of mixing bowls for the umpteenth time.
‘Very.’
Jed put his arm round me. ‘Even if nobody comes – which I’m sure won’t be the case – or even if there’s just a few attendees, what you’re doing here is brilliant so don’t forget that.’
Anastasia was the first to arrive, although she was ten minutes early so it didn’t worry me unduly. Five minutes later, we had two more attendees and, by five past seven, there were fourteen, exceeding my expectations. Eleven were women and there was a good mix of ages from twenties to seventies. I’d expected the gender bias for many reasons ranging from the activity itself through to women being more comfortable admitting that they were lonely and wanted friends. Colin wasn’t one of the men, which was a shame, although I’d taken care not to mention him to Anastasia as I didn’t want her to feel like she was being set up.
Jed and Carly worked the room while I made drinks for everyone and I was very aware of the awkwardness of a bunch of strangers in a room together, each reluctant to be the first to speak. Soft music was playing so there’dnever be complete silence. Once everyone had a drink and had donned an apron, I gave a warm welcome and explained why I’d formed The Friendship Pod.
‘There are fourteen of you here tonight and, as you’ll need some space to roll out your dough, it’ll be two people per table but we’ll move everyone around later so there’ll be plenty of opportunity to meet all the attendees. Please choose a table.’
It was interesting to note that, despite what I’d said about moving round later, attendees of similar ages had gravitated towards each other, perhaps assuming they’d have more in common.
‘I know that speaking aloud in front of a bunch of people you don’t know is nobody’s favourite activity, but I’m going to do a quick round the room and ask you to give the name you prefer to be called. There’s stickers and a marker pen on the tables so put your name on a sticker too. Please also tell us what your favourite scone is. I’ll start. My name’s Tara and I’m scone-obsessed. I’ll try any combination of flavours but, in my eyes, you can’t beat a warm cheese scone. Yum!’
I smiled at Jed to go next. ‘Hi, I’m Jed. Some might say it’s a boring choice but I love a plain scone. Got to have half a pound of butter on it, though.’
‘My name’s Carly and I would have said fruit until I tried one of Tara’s lavender scones and, oh my gosh, I’m salivating now just thinking about them.’
Each of our responses had elicited a ripple of laughter and plenty of smiles so the icebreaker was working. I directed the rest of the introductions and the responses helped give me a feel for those who were confident versus those who might need a little more coaxing. Next I posed a very important question.
‘What’s the correct way to pronounce what we’re about to make – scone rhymes with gone or scone rhymes with cone?’
I’d listened to the debate so many times between customers and was confident it would break the ice further, which it did with much laughter. I was firmly in the scone rhymes with gone camp and was thrilled to see that getting the most votes.
‘Okay, everyone, first task is to wash your hands because you’ll be using them to mix your dough.’
I directed them towards the toilets and kitchen and, once everyone had returned to their tables, I explained how the session would run.
‘I’m going to guide you through how to make your scones and there are recipe sheets on the table too. You’ll leave today with a bag of scones but you’ll also hopefully leave with the start of some new friendships. So do chat to each other but, because we know it can be difficult talking to a stranger, we’ve put a dish of questions on each table. You can use them as conversation starters. Let’s get going…’
I was curious as to how the conversation starters would work. The scone-related ones had had us giggling – serious questions such as:
Is it okay to put jam on a cheese scone?
Should wholemeal scones have ever been invented?
You’re having a cream tea. Jam or cream first?
Chocolate scones. Delicious or disgusting?
The non-scone questions mainly related to jobs, hobbies and simple subjects like favourite foods, music and TV programmes. We’d avoided questions about family orrelationships, recognising that, for some attendees, they might be challenging to answer.
It warmed my heart to see the smiles, to hear the chatter and laughter as the evening wore on. After placing the first batch of scones in the oven, I made another round of drinks and encouraged the attendees to swap places.
