In 2016, I, while working at sun fresh, told a group of 3 women that there was no limit on a sale of 2 liters of soda. After these women filled 4 full carts of 7up, I was leaving work and Danielle, the bagger who carted them up, stopped me. “You still haven’t accepted my friend request” she said. From that moment on, a friendship was born.

Over the months that followed, Danielle and I would continue to bond over shared music tastes and similar sense of humor. Danielle was vegan, and I worked in the deli. I made sure I knew what days she worked so I could have vegan options in the hot case or just simply a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ready everyday. Our friendship continued to blossom.

In summer 2018, Danielle messaged me about meeting up at sun fresh to help her brother get groceries. We hadn’t seen each other in quite a while as Danielle had begun college and neither of us worked at sun fresh anymore. After this, we started talking a bit but not too often, as we both were very busy with work and life.

In October of 2018, I had been messaging Danielle about recent break up, so she FaceTimed me. After listening to what had me feeling down, she offered a simple solution.

“Date me instead”

Best decision I’ve ever made.

Circa 2016, working at Sunfresh, one day a new guy in the deli started working. At the time we had said no more than two words to each other, and he didnt seem too keen on wanting to say more. But something about him just drew me in and I told myself that day, I am going to be his friend. So, I sent him a friend request. There it sat, for a week. Rather than accept defeat, the next day we worked together I told him that he hadnt accepted my friend request. He did accept it, and I am sure from that moment on, he had to have known that when I want something I go for it. I didnt know it yet, but I like to think that we had a string connecting us to each other that day forward.


Tommy and Is friendship bloomed like wildflowers in mid May, all at once. We were each others confidants and safe spaces and somehow we always knew that we could be our truest selves around each other. After graduation, life got busy between travelling, and college. Although that gave us less time to talk, when we did talk, it was like no time passed at all.


Flash forward to fall of 2018; I receive a sad-boy snap from Tommy and immediately I call him. We talked for hours about life and break-ups and even though I wouldve listened to him all night long, I offered a solution to his problems.


Date me instead


It took time, patience, and a whole lot of love, but damn we made it work. Not only is it just working, but it could also run a whole mega corporation for how smoothly it’s operating.


I am so glad I sent him that friend request.