The Rejection Games Are Experiencing a Resurgence

Asking for a “rib eye refill” was not a prank.

It was an exercise in overcoming rejection. I learned about it in a TED talk called “What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection.”

Jia Jiang, the speaker, filmed himself while completing “The Rejection Games,” a game full of uncomfortable challenges you have to complete to develop your confidence.

This talk and the consequent challenges have experienced a resurgence and, since the beginning of the year, have taken TikTok by storm. TikTokers are taking to the streets and filming themselves, asking weird requests with the single purpose of getting shut down.

The specific exercise I was drawn to is called “Burger Refill.” You ask a cashier at a fast food restaurant for a refill on a burger you just finished.

What a weird exercise!

And I loved it!!

But I had issues with the challenge.

One, the guy was recording himself while doing them. I didn’t like that.

Two, the stakes were too low.

I can order burger refills all day long, and I’m sure I’d get them because disgruntled fast-food restaurant employees get paid very little and wouldn’t mind giving anyone a burger that has been sitting under a heating lamp since the beginning of the pandemic.

Three, why would I order a burger? I’m not twelve.

I was going to do the exercise. I just needed to redesign it and find the perfect situation for it, which I did when I was invited to the anniversary gala of the company I worked for.

I was out of the office on paternity leave but had been invited because it was the company’s 25th anniversary, and I was scheduled to return.

The party took place at Poggio Trattoria, a bougie restaurant inside a boutique hotel, Casa Madrona, in the middle of posh Sausalito.

After finishing my rib eye, I saw the perfect opportunity to practice the exercise.

The stakes were high because…

Read the first essay in this series, “Knocking on the Door is Not Entering.”

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