Smile!

Last Sunday I was standing in line to pay for our lunch at Cracker Barrel when a lady a little ahead of me turned and looked at  me, waved and smiled.  I smiled and waved back, then, curious,  I stepped out of line and asked her, "Have we met before?"

She laughed and said, "No, I was waving at the person behind you!"

Well, it was funny, but it still felt good to be acknowledged, even accidentally!

This incident came to mind when I read an item on Facebook this morning. A girl riding in the car with her boyfriend asked him why he waved and smiled at every car he met. He answered her by saying, "I read once that many people who had planned to commit suicide changed their minds when someone smiled at them."

It brought back memories of when as a child riding in the car with my dad.  He always waved at people he met on the road.  They  waved back, too. People don't seem to do that anymore. It was the custom then to smile at a passerby on the street, or for a man to tip his hat to a lady he walked past.

There is a song we used to sing at church, I think at greeting time: "Smile awhile and give your face a rest. Raise you hands to the One you love the best; Then shake hands with those nearby and give to them a smile."

They say it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile, so maybe it really does give your face a rest!

Smile, everyone!