by Nancy Linenkugel
Contributor
Local folks I know always look forward to attending a large health fair that spans two days and is held not only at the convention center but also at a downtown park. These fairs bring forth everything one could imagine in the quest for good health, so numerous local healthcare organizations were represented along with restaurants, the park system, healthy home products, athletic attire products, organic foods, and much more.
I found myself at a restaurant booth sandwiched between two persons who really, really, really wanted to win one of the collector water bottles that had a colorful lid of mascot-like figurines.
"What do I need to do to win one of those?" the gal ahead of me in line said. The booth worker replied, "Hmmm, let's see. How about if you do 10 jumping jacks? That would be a healthy activity."
"Done," said the gal as she handed her jacket and goodie bag to her husband, easily did the jumping jacks, and we all counted them out.
"Good work," the booth worker said. "Here you go" and handed her a water bottle. The fellow on the other side of me jumped in and said, "I've got to have one of those, too. What do I need to do?" He was dressed in an athletic suit and athletic shoes.
The booth worker said, "How about doing 15 toe touches?" The fellow said, "I'd really like to do that, ma'am, but I just finished a 10K run. Could I do something less strenuous?"
"Sure," she replied. "Why don't you hug a stranger? That's a healthy thing to do." The fellow said, "OK. Can I hug you?" The booth worker said, "Since we've been talking with each other I'm not exactly a stranger. How about someone else?"
So I said, "I'll be glad to give you a hug." So we did a quick hug. The booth worker clapped, the jumping jack lady clapped, and her husband also clapped. "Great! Here you go", and the booth worker gave a collector water bottle to both of us. The jumping jack lady said, "Oh, good, you got a bottle. I was ready to do 10 more jumping jacks for you."
Somehow we all felt a little healthier as we clutched our prize bottles.
[Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio.]