Oh noes! A negative posting! Not really. I wanted to say that I find this one kind of trite. When someone says “I want to smile at strangers”, they don’t typically mean any ol’ stranger. Usually the “stranger” is the cute guy in the corner, or the laughing mother with her kids, or the guy jogging. Rarely do people smile at those who actually need it.
So here’s the challenge for anyone who seriously wants to do this. Smile at people that you have a bad first impression of only. That is, the cute guy in the corner probably doesn’t need encouragement to make his day better. The mom and kids probably do not either. But that dorky kid staring at the ground probably does. And the old man grumbling to himself.
All these people who you would normally stray from – give them something to be happy about. Smile and say “nice weather!” or “hey there!” or anything, just to nudge them in the right direction.
Man, sometimes I sound like a hippy. Where are my hemp pants?
