When I was a preschooler in Sunday School, the teacher sent a note home asking why I never smiled. I smiled! Just never when I was supposed to be serious. I laughed and played with cousins and friends, but at Sunday School I was quiet and obedient. I have always been one to sit back and observe, and when I feel comfortable, then I join in.
So, my mom told me that I had to force a smile at Sunday School. I remember going to the drinking fountain and when I saw the teacher I smiled ear to ear. She commented about my fake smile and asked if my mom had told me to do that. I didn't know what to say.
Over the years I have discovered that a smile can be disarming, warming, welcoming.
Yesterday I was at a stop light and a woman next to me had an overgrown puppy seated beside her. I smiled and she began chatting. Sometimes a smile is all it takes to make someone's day.
Sometimes a smile can be cause for alarm. One time, I had left the dentist after a root canal. I'm pretty much lost without lipstick; it's the one thing that colors my face. So, as I was driving, I reached in my purse for my lipstick, and applied it. Even if I couldn't talk right, I could nod and smile with a little color on my lips.
If only that were true. I came to a stop sign, looked over at the woman, nodded and her eyes widened in disbelief. Eh, not the friendly type, I thought. Next stop light a teenaged boy glanced over and winced. I looked in the mirror and saw that although I had applied lipstick a thousand times without using a mirror, this time I should have looked at my mug in my rear view mirror BEFORE not after I applied it. I gasped at myself. I had outlined my chin and above my lip! Oh did I cringe and scrub.
I hope this made you smile. As I tell my prekindergarten students, "Even big people make mistakes."
14 comments:
Yes, it made me smile! I have NEVER been able to put on lipstick or pierce ear rings without a mirror.
You are so right about a smile and one used to be a part of me. Now I don't smile so much because I am always thinking of an ongoing list in my head. Once in a while it sneaks back and I would like to find it the way it was when I was young. My first love was snagged due to smile alone he said...had no idea who I was, just liked the smile so much he wanted to know more...well, that is from yesteryear!
Yes, Linda, that did give me a smile! Hee Hee! Those people must have thought there was a mad woman on the loose!! I'm like you, I just have to have lipstick on, otherwise I look ill!!
I try to smile at least once per day and today you managed to make me smile :))
Great story. It really is good for you when you smile. Too bad more people don't do it!
My friend Ann who runs a kennel always stops to put a smile on her face before she answers the phone. She says people can hear it.
You did make me smile, which is a big accomplishment for this day. It seems one of the 'big people' working on my remodel made a mistake...a jim dandy! Now we have to fix it. Not smilin' about that...
Dang! I wonder how many people are still in therapy because of your smile that day. At least you didn't pair it with a maniacal laugh.
I've done that, with some too-orange lipstick. Positively terrifying...for everyone who saw me before my daughter caught me and cleaned me up.
LOL, I bet that was hilarious to see!
That did make me smile- thanks, Linda!
Best,
Allison
Okay. I'm definitely smiling this morning. Love the vignette about the lipstick after the root canal.
Donna
ha ha ha ha ha That was funny, Linda. I'll never try to put on lipstick after novacaine. ha ha ha
Nice carnival shots, too. And I loved your sunset shot and the little woodchuck. Made me think of that childhood tongue twister: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood." Faster and faster we'd go and end up laughing our heads off.
Hope you have a good day and week. Susan
I love to see people smile. A friend of mine once told me that she smiles at everyone she meets, whether she knows them or not. She said, "It makes them wonder what you're up to."
I can testify to the fact that big people make mistakes. Sometimes a lot of them!
Pat
Critter Alley
Post a Comment