I told my story to about 100 Kaiser Permanente retirees today; it was lovely. They were a very attentive and thoughtful audience and had lots of great questions. Am I ever afraid? How do I choose? How do I start talking to a stranger? What will I do after 100 hundreds in 2011? Why a hundred dollar bill rather than five twenties? What would my mother say?

It left me with a lot to think about and I was still pondering everything when I headed downtown to meet a friend for Happy Hour. It was a beautiful day. People just getting out of work were looking around in amazement, like: “this is what’s been going on outside all day?”

I parked right outside the old Bank of California building on SW Stark and 6th. I love this building; it reminds me of something you’d see in New York or Boston. It’s vacant now. I found some interesting facts about the building here.

The beautiful door of the old Bank of California

The ornate flagpole holders and light fixtures caught my eye.

Flagpole holder

Then I noticed a woman crouched down on the sidewalk. She was eating from a brown takeout box. I went closer and saw that she was actually sitting on her backpack. A bicycle helmet was on the ground next to her.

She was sitting on her backpack, eating from a takeout box.

“Nice place for a picnic!” I offered. “Yeah,” she said, with a smile. “I have to go in to work in a minute. It’s nice out here.” She said she worked inside at the Marriott’s restaurant, as a server.

She had finished eating and stood up to go inside. “Hey,” I said. “I think this is a lucky day for you.” She smiled and looked at me, puzzled. She was wearing a necklace the same color as her striking blues eyes. “I want to give this to you. It’s something I’m doing in honor of my mom.”

I held out the hundred dollar bill and she just stared at it. “No! That’s too much! No way! What is this?” I explained a little about what I was doing and she took the bill, her eyes tearing up. “That’s just amazing,” she said. “I don’t know why I’m getting so emotional!” She gave me a big hug and told me her name was Bri. “This is too weird,” she said. “I feel like I should do something with it to pay you back.” I said she could pay it forward or keep it for herself, or some of both. Whatever she wanted.

I told her about the blog and she said I could take her picture. Then she hugged me again and said she had better get to work. “Have a good night,” I said. “Remember, it’s your lucky day!”

She smiled. Her luminous smile.

Bri