April Doner
I'm an ABCD practitioner, storyteller / roving illustrator and coach / consultant based in Indianapolis, IN. I was drawn to community and knowing peoples' gifts from a very young age, but found the words that matched my passion in college in 2005 when my favorite Sociology professor handed me the "big green book" (McKnight & Kretzmann's original ABCD book.) I practice ABCD in my own neighborhood and most recently have been leading a national project coaching capturing learnings from museums and libraries who are engaging with their communities using an ABCD framework. I have a wonderful 3 year old daughter and also enjoy exploring how ABCD helps parents, children and families thrive through my own experiments in cultivating neighborly mutuality in my own life.

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"Me, Mom & the Boy Who Checked Me Out"

user image 2012-05-14
By: April Doner
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This article started as a facebook "status update" as I was musing on an interesting exchange that had happened minutes before at our local grocery store check-out line... it made me reflect on how technology can pull us away from rich community interactions, but how we an also bounce back and have fun doing it...

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I was on the phone with my mom as I went to check out my groceries at Publix the other night. I was on a mission to satisfy a mad craving formac n cheese and pick up some bananas, apples and yogurt for my favorite morning smoothies.

My favorite Publix at 10th and Cocoanut (Sarasota, FL).

I got to the counter, still on the phone. But I always feel kinda skeezy for being on the phone and ignoring the checkout person, so I said to the friendly-looking young man,Im sorry for being on the phone right now.

He said, Its okay; at least you are apologizing at least youreacknowledgingme. He did not say this in a snarky wayjust delightfully honest and honestly grateful.

Liking this, I took it a step further. Im on the phone with my mom, actually.

Ahwell tell your mom I said hi.

Okay! Mom, I spoke into the phone while scanning his nametage, Thomas says hi.

Mom said, Oh, thats nice. Whos Thomas?

The young fellow at Publix whos checking me outerr, whos doing the checkout for my groceries, I said, blushing and performing a little embarrassed monkey dance.

Well, you tell Thomas I hope he has a wonderful night, she said, with great emphasis on the word wonderful.

This experience made me incredibly happy. What a nice little crossing-over of interactions, coming out feeling the opposite of skeezy!And beyond not feeling sneezy, it made me happy for other reasons that go deep into my feelings on modern technology and social media. They also make me more aware of a waning appreciation for interactions with people in the world around us that are not planned or pre-sorted.

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