Chester and I don’t discriminate – everybody gets a smile whether they return one or not. Everyday – everyone. We’ve been smiling at one old fart for months – if we’re close enough we even say ‘good morning’. And for all these months we’ve been totally ignored, absolutely invisible – until today.
We’d decided the old fart was from the dog hater camp, that he was probably among the disgruntled seniors penning letters to the editor. We even wondered if he’d been part of the poop planting squad who tried to derail the pilot project letting dogs walk with their people on the promenade last winter. He was a tough one to read – a hat wearing, fast walking, ground staring old fart.
Chester and I love a challenge. He was a perfect target – he needed a smile more than most.
People usually succumb to our tactics fairly quickly, we can coax a ‘good morning’ out of just about anyone after a week or two. This old fart has been resisting for months. Our smiles have bounced off his Tilley Hat like rain drops – until this morning.
This morning that old fart actually tipped his Tilley Hat before we could lock and load our smile – he said ‘mornin before we could hide our surprise. He may have smirked as we passed.
Have we been played all these months? Was the old fart actually not an old fart after all? Has this challenge been a two-way street? Has he been pushing our perseverance? Am I giving this way too much thought?
We smiled and said ‘good morning’. Victory! A small gesture and my day has been made.