Giraffe Bread 2: Havana Nights

Update from: Giraffe Bread

For those who missed it the first time around.

I almost feel like I should be writing the sequel to some saccharine, feel-good summer blockbuster here. Lily, Chris and ‘Giraffe Bread’ are back with a vengence. To date, I’ve seen just one of the Facebook groups dedicated to my friend go from 100 to 2,800 members in the space of 24 hours. One picture has been shared on Facebook somewhere in the region of 50,000 times and ‘liked’ several times that number. The Huffington Post and The Sun, as well as numerous blogs, have picked up and written about the story – despite the fact that it’s months old. I think this is fantastic and it may well be the case that this will be bigger than before. Stay tuned.

So far, there have been some spectacular reactions, some propositions and some declarations. Despite seeing a lot of the hype unfold firsthand – I spend a lot of time on Social Media at work – my favourite response so far was on this very blog. ‘Jenny’ posted:

And then you have the single women who read his cute little reply and just want to perk up his day the way he has theirs ;)

Well Chris, I reckon you’re sorted for a story to tell on first dates for the rest of your life. But remember: With great power, comes very little responsibilty.

Giraffe Bread

Who is Chris King (aged 27 & 1/3), Customer Manager?  That seems to be the question running all over Twitter this afternoon.  I’ve been watching with some interest, mainly because Chris King is a pretty good friend of mine and I’m beginning to fear for his safety in a very real way.  Maybe I should start at the beginning:

Chris works for Sainsbury’s Customer Careline, answering letters and emails that the company receives.  Mostly, this is a job which deals with complaints, anger and hysteria from irate customers and the odd prankster (it’s a free phone number).  However, last week Chris replied to a letter from a young girl, Lily.

originally posted on threescore.wordpress.com

Chris, being the lovely chap that I know him to be, responded in kind with a letter which has captured the hearts of several twitter fans and bloggers.

originally posted on threescore.wordpress.com

I must admit, I don’t really get Twitter.  Very few people are sufficiently of interest to me that I care about the minutae of their lives.  In fact, at the time of writing, I can only think of one: me.  I also struggle to believe that strangers out there in the land of the cyberwebz have any curiosity about what I ate for breakfast.  Having said that, I’ve been assured that the story is ‘trending’ and being ‘re-tweeted’ at an alarming rate.  Chris’s friends (myself included, I hope) have also gotten in on the act to see how far we might be able to take this.  Will it make the 6 o’clock news?  I’m unlikely to find out – I don’t own a television – but I’ll be scouring the morning papers tomorrow.

Choice quotes from tweets so far include declarations of admiration, love, a proposal and even some jealous infighting.  One tweeter imagined that Chris would be ‘fit and interested in animals’ while another was sure that he’s be the kind of guy your mum would love.  Some people even questioned the existence of such a person.  Some wondered if the whole thing was a marketing ploy.

[For a less jaded world view, check out Shinybiscuit’s blog here: http://shinybiscuit.blogspot.com/2011/06/lovely-letters.html]

Well, who is the real Chris King (aged 27 & 1/3)?  Just a bored Glaswegian sitting at a desk, answering your letters and emails, who hasn’t quite lost his last ounce of humanity (unlike the majority of call centre employees)?  Maybe… or maybe we’re looking at the next Oprah?  Could a TV deal follow? Or maybe – more likely, in my humble opinion – the next victim of an obsessed stalker?  Only time will tell.

That’s where we stand as of now.  I’ll keep you posted.

RGK (aged 21 & 3/4).