"hey guys", i said as my friends and i approached a group of six people sitting on a bench in a shady [in more ways than one] park on gerrard street east. "would you like some water?"

"uh no", she said. "we have beer".

"that's cool", i said, "would you like some water for later?"

"noooo, we have beer", she repeated. [i think she wanted me to know that she had beer lol].

so i went another route, and started including the others, too. one guy had a sick red new york yankees hat on [minus the yankees part] so naturally i started talking about the jays, which he found humorous, which naturally led me to laugh out loud, which, well, naturally led them to make fun of my crazy laugh. consider the ice broken.

we didn't talk about anything deep this time around, which has never been our agenda any ways, but we did share some more laughs, a few dance moves, and you better believe that my friends and i listened a great deal. one guy was ecstatic that he 'can now get married in ireland', another was blown away that we weren't with any organization and were handing out water 'on our own', and one lady shared of her health struggles and asked me if i had any underwear.

"not on me", i said. "well..uh..i have a pair ON me, but that's not going to help anyone". she rolled her eyes. [tough crowd]. "perhaps i should start an 'operation fruit of the loom' soon in the near future", i thought.

all kidding aside, being asked for underwear reassured me of the fact that there are so many needs out there. water. sandwiches. some change. underwear. a good laugh. you name it. and honestly, when you think about it, it really doesn't cost us much to reach out and help others. two of my friends and i took a couple of hours out of our saturday to do something practical, and the water, thanks to walmart this week, cost us a measly $1.88. helping others doesn't always cost us much, and is more simple than we make it out to be at times, not to mention rewarding.

i'll never forget the face of the older gentlemen whom we gave our last water bottle to. he was lying on the ground on the northwest corner of the infamous dundas square, blending in with the crowd and yet invisible to some.

"good day, sir. would you like some water?" we said.

i tell you no lies - his whole disposition changed in a matter of seconds! his piercing blue eyes popped out of their sockets as he sat up a bit and said, "ohhh yes! thank you" with so much excitement and gratitude in his voice. we honestly couldn't have asked for a better way to end our day.

so thank you, sir. thank you for reminding us of what operation hydration is all about: you.

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operation hydration recap:

first outing: just me and 10 water bottles.
second outing: 21 water bottles, two of my friends and i.
what will operation hydration 3 look like? [stay tuned for the deets!]