Smile, baby, smile!
As the semestr started recently, I started to spend quite a lot of time by travelling between my hometown and the city where my university resides. And it certainly is funny to see the faces of people I'm travelling with.
Most of the buses I travel with this semester leave my hometown at 7:25. To me it means leaving my nice and warm bed at six, catch first bus at 6:58, wait about ten minutes and get into The Bus. People around me are usually completely straigh-faced, outright annoyed or half-asleep. Only few of the crazies like me keep on looking around and smile.
It jumped into my face when I was stepping into bus one day, greeting the driver, smilling at him as I told him which ticket I need and he just shook his head while handing me my ticket and said: "You sure seem to be in good mood today, miss."
Sure I was! The sun was shining brightly, light breeze was blowing, cooling its rays, the birds were chirping - who wouldn't be in good spirits?
One look around me showed that almost no one is, which left me a bit bewildered.
To me, it was a bit like a dare to start smilling at people. We meet in a bus... Our eyes meet when we look around at our surroundings... I smile at them... And mostly get a funny or bewildered look in return. You know, that kind of look you would give to someone who grew a third arm or second head.
But sometimes, the person I smile at returns my smile with one of their own, their whole face lighting up in a way which would suggest they spent the whole day, week, month by looking forward to see someone they could smile back at.
Yet, nothing beats something what happened to me almost year ago. As I stayed through the week in my university city at that time, I usually left my home at Sunday afternoon. But that week I left later, at Monday morning, as my brother celebrated his birthday that Sunday and I wanted to be present. It was still rather early in the morning when I arrived to my university city - judging by the annoyed faces of people around me - and I was slowly walking in the direction of the flat I shared with my friends.
As I crossed the street, a minibus driver slowed down and let me cross. Usually, I just nod my thanks to the drivers, or wave at them to show my appreciation of their good will, but that time, since I had my hands full, I turned my head in the direction of the driver.
And I smiled.
All of the men in the minibus seemed to wake up at that; as the vehicle drove on the road next to me, all of them had been watching me curiously, as the car had to stop at the traffic lights. By that time, I walked around them again, the men once again turning their heads to watch me as I walked around and it was a bit unnerving. At least until they got the green light, at the same time as I got the green at the crossing. That was when the driver hit the klaxon and all of them waved at me while smilling widely.
It was ultimate success of making people smile, and o worth it that it brings smile to my face even after all those months. Ultimate success, I say, and so worth of keeping on trying to make people smile more.
