Worth a million bucks

In my opinion, a smile and a "good morning" can completely change the balance of the universe for the good.

Even before I became an Ima, I always valued the importance of a smile in order to make someone else's day even just a little bit brighter. We're talking a big smile and a "boker tov" to the street cleaner, or a big smile and a "good afternoon" to the bank teller, the cashier at the grocery store or the irritable cab driver.

We've all had bad days. We've all been in the middle of one of those days, wishing we could just crawl into bed and hide under the covers.

We live in a small city, that kind of has a yishuv, a small settlement, feel to it. There's a strong sense of community. I have a friendly relationship with all of the cashiers at the supermarket near my house. We always engage in friendly chatter when I'm at their cash. Last week, I noticed that one of the cashiers, a sweet and lovely young woman,  had tear stained cheeks and red eyes. The kids and I weren't in line at her cash, but I smiled at her from where I was standing and she gave a forced smile back. The next day, Erev Shabbat, I was there with Hubby and the kids and this time, we were in line at her cash. She looked very upset again(or still). I looked at her and said" You sweet and lovely young woman, you look sad again. You need a hug". I went around to the other side of the cash register and gave her a hug. People looked at me funny, but I didn't care. The boss of the supermarket came over to ask what happened. I said"Nothing happened. She just really needed a hug". A few days later, when we were at the store again, the lovely young cashier had on her beautiful smile again. This time when she smiled at me, it wasn't any ol' forced smile. This time it was one worth a million bucks.

What a great feeling it is, knowing that your smile brightened someone's day. Even for just a few minutes.


With Love,
Cigal