Smile Bigger

So I ran in to the store for my daily dose of addiction (that's a completely different post) and as I was waiting for this older guy in front of me to fill up his cup, he glanced back at me. So I smiled. He completely stopped what he was doing, turns to me and says "Thank you. Thank you for smiling." Then he kind of shook his head and said "No one smiles anymore." 

It took me by surprise so I laughed and told him I smiled all the time and he told me I should, that I had a great smile. Obviously, he hadn't looked very close because he missed the fact that I have an enormous overbite now. 

But I could tell he meant it in a completely genuine way - not that my smile was great, but that he was just so grateful that someone extended a little courtesy smile to him. Like he was just so eager for a little polite small talk.

So I kept chatting with him. He told me his birthday is next week and  he was about to be a grandfather. He was so excited about the baby, I could tell he wanted everyone to know. Even some random girl in a convenience store. 

Then as he was about to leave he said "You take care, sunshine." That happens to be my favorite term of endearment.  Which is kind of ironic because no one I have ever dated has called me that. The closest I've ever gotten was the guy that referred to me as "sweetheart".  Which I loved.  Until I realized that he only called me that as a measure to ensure he wouldn't accidently say the wrong name.

The whole exchange put me in such a good mood because I honestly felt that I just made his day. By doing nothing more than smiling. And it totally wasn't creepy or weird - like he wasn't sleazy or anything. He just seemed like some guy that was maybe a little lonely. 

Good reminder how the little things can sometimes mean so much...