Dear Imo,
Just following up on our convo below and you writing that you go around putting smiles on people's faces. I love that and can totally identify. I lived in Zurich for many years (1990-2002) and as much as I love the Swiss and how efficient the country is – they can be pretty grumpy people. At one point, I was on a running thing and ran the same route every day at the same time so I'd pass some of the same people every day. I used to pass this elderly woman who at the same point and I'd always say hi to her (well, "Greuzi", which is what they say in Swiss German). And she wouldn't reply, acknowledge, or even LOOK at me. So, I decided that my goal was going to get her to not only say hi back to me but to make her smile. So day after day I said hello and then flashed her a big smile…..it took about a week but she finally said hi back to me – BUT she still wasn't looking at me. Well, I'm sure you know where this story is going – but after several weeks – I had her. I made her smile every morning and I could tell that I altered her frame of mind when she went on her walks. She even would say hi to me first and smile every time. Made me SOO happy!
Oh this is reminding me of another similar story. I was at the grocery store with my three young children, also in Switzerland and there was an elderly man in front of us in line. He turned to me and said Hello in English – he could hear me speaking English with my children. So, I smiled and started a conversation with him – asked him how he learned English etc etc – just small talk. We both finished up and had our bags packed and he looked at me and said he had been shopping in this store for decades and I was the first person to ever talk to him!!! Isn't that CRAZY???
And now I live in Vermont and hike a mini mountain every morning before work. It's called Mt Philo – and randomly I also met my boyfriend John there (had a horrible divorce from my wasband who I was married to for 27 years). It's a magical place with an amazing view. So every morning when John and I hike up – we say good morning to everyone that we pass – something I've been doing all these years. And you can't believe how many people don't reply or even look at us. We continue to say hi every morning and slowly, we crack them and they reply. Just this morning, one of the grumpier women who we have been saying good morning to for at least 2 years – said good morning to US first before we had a chance to say good morning to her. We were soooo happy! Our perseverance paid off and she was happy and smiling.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on smiling…it brought back these wonderful memories for me.
Happy Sunday and happy week!
p.s. my lunch was so good and that brioche was amazing.
p.s. here is the view from Mt Philo yesterday morning:
