Episode 1
The scene: Nonprofit Girl is seriously hungry. She planned to dash out a little before noon to get a sandwich ahead of the lunch crowds, but she got distracted and missed her window. Then she tried to wait for the lunch rush to pass as her hunger escalated to unbearable levels. Now, she sets off down the crowded sidewalk for the Chick-fil-a, donning her best don't-talk-to-me scowl. She's got one thing on her mind: a sandwich.
She darts over crosswalks and squeezes past meandering businessmen walking four across on the sidewalk. She is on a mission. But there's trouble ahead! People with clipboards just waiting to come between her and her sandwich. Her stomach growls a warning.
Long-haired clipboard-dude: HEY NICE LADY! Do you wanna...
Nonprofit Girl: NO THANKS!
Long-haired clipboard-dude: (from behind her, as she speed-walks away) ...end child sex slavery?
Nonprofit Girl: (to herself) Damn.
--
Episode 2
It's a good day for Nonprofit Girl. She held a meeting, figured some stuff out, and realized things are not nearly as desperate as they seemed. And all before lunch! Plus, she has run out of leftovers and now has an excuse to go buy her favorite sandwich! Feeling good about the world in general, Nonprofit Girl sets off to get that sandwich. As she approaches the park, she remembers to put her happy feelings aside and summon up her best don't-talk-to-me scowl, lest the shady people dawdling around the park try to talk to her.
But what is that up ahead? A squirrel is holding something in its tiny little hands. (Yes, squirrels have "hands." You think Nonprofit Girl would make that up?) A squirrel holding anything is completely adorable, but this squirrel is holding a stick twice the length of its own body.
What does that squirrel think it is going to do with that stick? Nonprofit Girl wonders. It's holding the stick in the middle and waving it, almost twirling it, like a kung fu fighter with a bamboo pole.
Nonprofit Girl looks up with a big, silly grin on her face. She thinks she knows what is about to happen. Someone else saw the kung fu squirrel and also thought it was hilarious! He will say, "Did you see that squirrel?" And she will say, "Yeah, that was awesome!" And he will say, "Yeah!" And they will chuckle, thinking as they walk away how it was even more awesome because they got the chance to say so.
But this is not what happens. Instead, Nonprofit Girl is face-to-face with her shape-shifting mortal enemy, Creepy Stranger Dude, smiling up at him like a kid on Christmas morning.
"That is a purdy smile you got there!"
Nonprofit Girl thinks to herself, Damn.
Now, there is not always a lesson to be learned from the Adventures of Nonprofit Girl, but this time, there is. The minute you drop your don't-talk-to-me scowl on the streets of Atlanta, someone will talk to you. And there's a good chance it'll be Creepy Stranger Dude. Remember, it takes a lot more muscles to frown than to smile, so don't forget to practice!!
