As I am writing this I am sitting in my favorite place by the window at Alliance Bakery in Wicker Park. I am reading an awesome book, and from time to time I look outside the window to think over some sentence that has impressed me. I come across quite a few sentences like that actually. So I stare through the slowly passing cars on Division street, which are crawling during the notorious Chicago rush hour. From time to time entire hordes of people pass by on the wide side walk, between me and the traffic. They must have just gotten off the nearby EL stop, rushing to get to their warm homes.
So I think about my things and I stare at the passers-by – not too consciously and not too politely. And an interesting thing I observed. People just shy away so quickly. They notice me staring and then they turn their sight away. With the exception of a beggar and a few kids… kids… I remember when I was a kid playing the staring game in the city transportation or at the playground – looking at people straight in the eye to see who will move their sight first. I always found kids more challenging, as they were less shy for doing "kid" things like that. And now as I am a grown up and stare at people, even though it is accidental, they just shy away. I think that other than the “inappropriate” part of staring, many grownups have just become shy and introverted, scared to be themsleves becuase of imposed expectations from everybody else.
Are we all so shriveled in our minds? What can we do about it? Well, adding some smile to spice up that blank stare did a miracle. People smiled back! That’s like establishing communication without words. I could feel the warmth. I wondered: what if I smiled to every person I crossed eyes with? For one thing, I would know a lot more people than I do now, as it is so much easier to start a conversation with a stranger after smiles have been exchanged. It was almost as if the smile melted the window separating me in the cffee shop from the people walking outside.
I know we all know that, but do we realize it and do we do it? Probably your answer woud be "kind of". I knew it, and still came to realize it, so I will try to do the smiling in order to convert it into one of my good habits. You should consider giving it a shot and enjoying the results. I will be happy to hear any stories then.