It seems that all it takes to make the news these days is a social media account and a bizarre quest of some sort. Like this Australian man, who is making headlines with his quest to have coffee with all 1,088 of his Facebook friends. His project is called ‘1000+ Coffees’ and he describes it as “an exercise in remembering to socialize with and get to know people”.
“I plan to have a one-on-one coffee with every single one of my 1000+ Facebook friends over the space of the next three years, or as long as it takes to complete,” 28-year-old Matt Kulesza wrote on his Tumblr page. “I obviously don’t have 1,000 real-life friends. The point of the project is to see who these people actually are and get to know them.”
Photo: Matt Kulesza/1000PlusCoffees
Well, that does sound like a rather commendable goal, especially in this day and age where interpersonal relationships are fast being replaced by digital acquaintanceships. Matt writes about each and every coffee encounter on his blog, along with pictures and little snippets of information like how long he’s been friends with them on Facebook, how he used to remember them, and how much they’ve changed.
One of Matt’s latest meetings was with his old friend from high school, Balraj Sokhi, whom he hadn’t seen in ten years. “The first thing I noticed about Balraj was his change in accent,” he wrote. “In high school he had a mish-mash of a Kenyan and Indian accent and it was interesting to hear his voice had evolved into a completely Australian accent (almost thicker than mine!).”
Photo: Matt Kulesza/1000PlusCoffees
He also wrote about Verity, a woman he went to primary school with and remembers as being an alternative kid. Since then, Verity has converted to Islam. “We talked about the importance of remaining open-minded and respectful of everyone you meet and the value of seeking connections with people you otherwise maybe wouldn’t connect with.”
Matt said that the project is also a challenge to the rest of us to put down our phones once in a while and connect with people in real life. “I find it hilarious how in uni lectures if we’re waiting for the lecturer to arrive, everyone is on their phones, totally silent. No one is taking up that opportunity to talk to people or network. It’s so funny,” he said.
Photo: Matt Kulesza/1000PlusCoffees
Ever since he started the project last month, Matt has already had coffee with 29 people. He’s aiming to have at least five coffee dates a week, which means if everything goes according to plan, the project might be completed sometime in late 2018. “I don’t really see it as a chore,” he insisted. “I enjoy having coffees with people.”
Matt is not the first person to take on this kind of challenge. Two years ago, ArLynn Presser made headlines in international media after she set out on a quest around the world to meet all of her 365 Facebook friends.
Photos: 1000PlusCoffees Tumblr
Sources: Yahoo News, Huffington Post
