Smiles

A few smiles...

• Today I smiled and engaged the clerk at the convenience store in conversation. He was reserved at first, then relieved and seemed genuinely happy by the time I left. In a mere few seconds, I brightened his day. I know this because he said so. 

• I had to cash a check at a bank my client uses (not my bank) and the woman had me fill out paperwork, tried to sell me on her bank and it took so much longer than it should have. But I just smiled, answered pleasantly then talked about walking a dog. I asked if she had any pets. This dire looking woman's face lit up as she told me all about her Chihuahua who hates everyone else but loves her. She tells me the pups name. I can't recall the name but it's Polish for sweety. He son says she should change then name to Killer. I say she should keep sweety and add killer to it... Sweety Killer. She laughed out loud. The other tellers looked over curiously. She blushed but kept on smiling. It was beautiful!

• When I walk Stanley, a black standard Poodle, we often see his neighbor walking his dog, Cinder, a black Pomeranian. Cinder barks at Stanley and Stanley stares her down as the man and I exchange pleasantries. He's about my dad's age and is a retired Fire Fighter. (I am still amused at his dog's name!) He recently told me every day that he sees me is a good day. That feeling is mutual!

• A woman in line ahead of me at Target had kitten food and new bowls and a litterbox. I asked her if she had just gotten her first kitten. She said no, she has two older cats and has had cats all her life. She found some stray/feral kittens whose mother wasn't around and she just couldn't leave them. They took a while, but are finally okay with being touched and she got all four of them into a carrier. Since her cats don't like other cats, she's sectioning off her condo. I commend her on taking them in and talk to her about the shelter I work with and say if she socializes them she can bring them in to get adopted. She tells me that her cats have always been found and that she didn't know shelters let people bring in pets. (She thought they only worked with the strays the police brought in.) She smiled and thanked me as she left.

• I sometimes write on my hand. Usually it's thoughts not to forget and sometimes, a grocery list. One day I had written, "Today is the day!" I don't remember why. My server saw my hand and teared up. I asked her what was wrong. She said nothing, only she'd been waiting for a sign and she knew that my hand was that sign. She thanked me.