Smiles

Every Wednesday before our noon Japanese class, my friend and I would drop by a cafe in the Physical Sciences building to have a quick lunch. The building was rather modern with white walls and blue windows plastered everywhere. But because of this, there’s a fair amount of natural light which makes the cafe a pleasant place to have lunch. Today I ordered a full chicken panini while my friend only ordered half. We sat down and ate in silence.

“I think girls are prettiest when they cry,” my friend said after finishing his sandwich.

I looked at him, somewhat confused. He looked back at me, his eyes firmly believed what he had said.

“For me though, I think they are prettiest when they laugh.” I answered back.

“Nah man.”

“I mean it’s subjective. Like I mean, I don’t see much beauty in the red nose, the tears, the boogers.”

“Not like an ugly cry, but like when they don’t say anything and tears suddenly flow down their cheeks.”

“I see that. But I still prefer smiles though. It just makes me happier as a person too.”

“It’s just a matter of aesthetics I guess.”

Later that afternoon, I was in the library printing out my homework for History class (which I had not done and was due that night). The printer was annoying as always, but all thirty sheets came out nicely. I have to say, the smell of newly printed paper is very satisfying. As I turned around the use the stapler, I noticed a small post-it note: this stapler is broken, sorry :(. What should I do? I’ve never interacted with the information desk before at the library, so I might as well do so. 

A short Asian girl in a grey sweatshirt was at the desk. 

“Hi, how can I help you?” she smiles

“Um, do you have a stapler by any chance?” 

“Here you go,” she handed me a long manual black stapler. 

As I was stapling my thick stack of paper, I was still taken aback by her smile. I wonder how long it’s been since a stranger smiled at me. Of course, when I am with my friends, I see them smile all the time. But this is somewhat different.

“Thanks.” I returned the stapler.

There’s nothing profound in this entry, but I want to confirm my assertion. Actually, I want to expand on it. I don’t think I only find my romantic interests charming when they smile. I think I find everyone charming when they do so. It’s something so simple, yet it has such as deep impact on my psych the rest of the day. Because they smile, I can’t help myself but do the same. It’s contagious. 

Maybe I should start smiling more too.