Shall I give away the cranes?

I'm at 270 cranes now, and I'm already thinking about what I will do with 1,000 paper cranes when I'm done. I don't have even 300 yet, and they're about to fill one large shopping bag. When I get to 1,000, there are going to be a LOT of cranes.

Maybe I could give them all away. Have a little booth at some festival and hang up a sign: "Free peace cranes. One per customer." Would people take them in the spirit with which they're intended? Would they be happy to accept a small freebie with a deeper meaning -- a gift of peace? Or would they think I was some kind of nut case? Sad to say, people are suspicious of freebies these days. Somebody giving something away must have a hidden agenda.

After I give away the initial 1,000, I've thought about starting a habit of giving away one peace crane every day. I could carry my little pack of origami paper with me everywhere and, whenever the mood struck and I had a spare four minutes, I would fold-fold-fold and ... voila! present a peace crane to some unsuspecting person -- the waiter at lunch, the grocery cashier, the nurse behind the counter at my doctor's office. I'm already thinking of that nice, white-haired clerk at the post office; he's always so pleasant. He would understand instinctively what a peace crane is all about. I think he'd make a fine Recipient No. 1.

But grouchy people would receive a peace crane, too. They need them more than anyone. Like that girl who works the drive-thru window at Starbucks. She always seems so worn out; never cracks a smile. She needs a peace crane.

We all need a peace crane.