I like to keep my smiles at the ready – a girl never knows when she might need one. Like a pocket full of Kleenex at a sentimental movie, my smiles come in very handy. I believe the world is nicer to a person who wears a smile. I also believe a person with a smile on their face treats the world nicer. It’s a win/win.
I think my default emotion is happy — I’ve never had much success staying angry for any length of time. My adult children told me recently that when they were little they had a secret pact; if one of them was in trouble they would agree to stay really quiet for a while — apparently it didn’t take long for mom to forget she was mad.
There’s a part of me that doesn’t like to think I was so easily played. The other part of me is thankful they could read me this well. There are times when a child’s life shouldn’t be full of surprises – there are people they should be able to count on.
This goes for big people too. I was at the nail salon the other day, my feet were soaking in a bath of fragrant warm water — I was having a blissful little time. Another customer walked through the door and suddenly the air in the room changed. This woman was obviously having a bad day and had dragged a cart load of bitchiness through the door with her.
She waited impatiently while the technician prepared her station, then flopped herself into a seat and waited for her pant legs to be rolled up. My blissful moment was over. I became focused on this cranky woman and the effect she was having on everyone else in the salon.
Why is anger the trump card?
This woman wasn’t noisy — far from it — she ignored everyone and concentrated on her cell phone. She assembled a wall of indifference around her station and everyone walked around it. The conversation I was having with my technician died. The woman seated next to me pulled her phone out of her purse and began flipping through messages. A hush fell in the salon.
I began to think about the world that cranky woman must live in. She would have no idea what the salon felt like the moment before she opened the door. There had been chatter and laughter and a lightness in the air. She arrived and all that changed – the atmosphere became quiet and tense. This is probably how the world looks to her – indifferent and removed.
I began to feel a little sorry for her. But I felt more sorry for the rest of us. So I pulled one of my smiles out of my pocket and set to the task of changing the world.
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🙂