Thursday, August 18, 2011

Someone else's happy space.

That lady in the supermarket this morning, to be precise.


(centrumkukow.com)

I looked up from selecting my gourmet tomatoes
to see a lady smiling brightly at other customers in the supermarket.
My heart immediately lifted,
as it tends to do in the face of a smile.

I had the thought that I often do.
That this world would be so much nicer
if people could make eye contact, smile and say g'day to people
just because.
Not frown at them.
Not look away.
Not bump you, hurrying past to that place that they need to get to so quickly
so that they can run on to the next.

I left the fruit and veg section with a smile on my face too.

Then, to be honest, it got kind of weird.

I passed the lady again in the dairy aisle.
Right where she was bestowing her magnificant smile on the cheeses.

Then again in the bread section where her beaming face was greeting the crumpets.

Apparently the light fittings deserved a big, bright toothy grin.

Oooookaaaayyyyyy.

This was one happy lady.

Granted, she might have had tetanus and it was beyond her control.
Or maybe someone slipped some happy pills in her morning cuppa.

But apparently she was happy to smile at anything,
living or not,
pasteurised or baked to perfection.

I don't know what it was.
But I am hoping that she was in her happy place.

And you know something?
If I hadn't run into her repeatedly and seen her imitation of Jack Nicholson in The Shining,
she would have made my day a better one.

So I expect that she is overall having a positive effect on the world.

There are probably only a handful of us that will be having nightmares...

10 comments:

Kelly Casanova said...

Heh, heh, heh..

Tania said...

My kids sway between admiration and despair (soon this will give way to unmitigated embarrassment). I am capable of striking up a random conversation with anyone, anywhere - and often at the supermarket. While I will not change this random act of conversing, I would gladly give away the aisle choreography afterward. I find it entirely likely that I am coming over like a COMPLETE NUTTER by the time we both hit aisle 12.

PS. That wasn't me smiling at the custard though.

Lola Nova said...

I was once caught in the act of smooshing a bouquet of Basil into my face, sighing audibly, and wearing a beatific smile upon my lips. The woman gave me a quizzical yet amused look and I said, "Sometimes it is something as simple as the intoxicating scent of Basil that reminds one that life is worth living!" She giggled and moved away slowly. Later, she changed checkouts when she saw me ahead of her.

Partito y Monito said...

Maybe she couldn't help smiling as she was, for once, doing the supermarket shop without a child in tow! That would be enough to make me beam beatifically at cheese and baked goods too!!! I might even add that little skippy thing where your heels click together on a couple of aisles too, if feeling especially merry!

MissGinger said...

Ha ha! maybe she had had a 'good night'!!!!

Cathie said...

heheee, hilarious!! happy pills..or juice, whatever it was, hope you haven't had any nightmares.

i agree though, smiling is good for the soul. I normally smile when i walk past people and sometimes even say hello too..shock horror.
we are all beings that need some good vibes every so often to lift our spirits.

keep on smiling Miss Tas and hope you get some good old fashioned sewing happening soon ♥

Dani Castley said...

Ok ..... that was quite possibly the funniest thing I have read in ages.

Lindy in Brisbane said...

Ha ha. And as for the supermarket isle choreography? I have actually skipped an isle or doubled back to avoid having to smile stupidly for the 8th time as I meet the same person coming towards me!

Sally said...

Too funny! Maybe she was auditioning for the health insurance commerical on the telly at the moment?!?!

Mary said...

botox gone wrong perhaps. I am the supermarket eavesdropper that can point to an item faster and more accurately than the very bored and clueless staff, and then end up looking like some weird supermarket stalker