This passed Thursday, Norma Bolaños—cashier at Chapman’s late night snack bar Doy’s Place—encountered an enormous surprise. A few hours into the routine work shift, her quiet station was overtaken by blow horns, balloons, waves of confetti, and a cheering crowd of over a hundred students coming to say, “Thank you Norma!”
When asked how she felt, Norma could only smile and giggle. “This is…. oh, this is crazy. In the last 20 years, there has never been a piñata for me.”
The grand gesture of appreciation was the doing of freshmen Phillip Stillwell, Ethan Stupp, Aaron Kohn, Dylan Leslie, Lucas Bugbee, Daniel Debach, and Ben Jannasch. The idea began with a Sunday night’s visit to Doy’s Place, where friends Ethan and Aaron struck up a conversation with Norma at the cash register. Following the encounter, the group agreed they wanted to show their gratitude to the regularly late-night working employee.
“We were all sitting at a table and Aaron and Ethan started talking about their conversation with Norma from the previous night,” party co-planner Phillip Stillwell explained. “Daniel and I decided that Norma needs more than just chocolate, and everyone pretty much agreed with that sentiment.”
The friends proceeded by going door to door through the residence halls asking for donations to fund a “Thank You Norma” surprise party. Approximately $240 was collected from students, which was then used to buy a variety of party favors, a piñata with candy, and a bag of caramel chocolates for Norma. By creating a Facebook page for the event, the boys were able to spread word of the party to a broad company of students. On Thursday evening, those interested were instructed to meet at a 9:50 P.M. on the street above the Henley Hall recreation room.
“At first we expected only closer friends and people we had recently told about it to show up,” said Ethan Stupp, “maybe a few other random people who had donated, too. But within five minutes, we somehow got over 115 people.”
After several minutes of distributing party favors and assembling a crowd, students rushed the recreation room, surrounding Norma and chanting. The piñata was brought forth and the teary-eyed, overjoyed “Norma from Doy’s” was given the honors of breaking loose the candy.
Astonished by what had occurred, Norma Bolaños later admitted she did notice a crowd gathering, but never imagined the commotion could be for her. “I looked and…I didn’t know it was for me. This is a big surprise.”
The group of boys also took measures to chronicle the event via video and photography. “We plan to turn the footage into a short YouTube video, which will show the planning process and commemorate the event,” stated Stillwell. The video will be posted online to Chapman community Facebook pages.
Norma manages the Doy’s Place cash register from 8:00 PM in the evening to 1:00 AM in the morning. For those looking to satisfy a sweet tooth or the occasional midnight hunger pang, stop by Doy’s Place and be sure to remind Norma that her late work shift is appreciated. Thus goes for all Chapman employees helping students daily; a polite thank you will always be appreciated, as no one likes to feel taken for granted.