Smile a little smile

There’s a kopitiam near my house where I like to tapau my favourite `teh c’ every morning on my way to work. This routine has been going on for more than a year now. The shop assistant would immediately know what to prepare even before I place my order. But there’s this thing about the lady boss who never smiles nor greets me, casting a somewhat aloof and indifferent glance every time I approach the counter however cheerfully talks to patrons who I presume are her friends. I sometimes think am I not contributing to her business? Even just for a mere Rm1.20 a day. Or RM1.40 as it is now.

A smile does not require much effort other than this small adjustment in your facial expression. Its free and comes with no attachment besides generously helping to make the other person feel welcomed and lighten up for a brief moment if there’s perhaps some troubles that might have surfaced in her/his life.

And as a customer, it makes me feel that my patronage is appreciated.

The lady boss proudly hung some enlarged photos of her posing and smiling broadly and exaggeratedly with some famous Hong-Kong film stars who visited her shop when they came to town for some drama-shooting, and she made sure all the photos were nicely put up for vanity display.

Made me wonder why is there such an immense difference in attitudes? As if film stars should rightfully be accorded first-class treatments. As if my frequent patronage is a mere passing of a dishevelled stranger at her doorstep asking for a glass of water to quench her thirst, whose continuing presence irritates and frustrates her...

Even a stranger deserves to be treated with kindly words and a courteous smile.

Courtesy and smile are those simple yet heart-warming gestures radiating little bright light to the givers and recipients alike, it embraces this wholesome quality of helping to dispel feeling of awkwardness or dissolve any apparent slight divide standing between you and me, making the interaction smooth and easy-flowing.

And sometimes it helps melt a hardened heart.

I would still frequent this shop every day on my way to work, and would continue to smile at her when I place my order and it won’t bother me too much as to how this lady boss present herself.

For the simple fact that this is how I would like to start my day.

And should be how I would like to end it as well. -___-

Note:there is something about this photo,which I downloaded fr.Flickr,that really touches my heart and I earnestly would like to put a link to the source (for fear of infringement of copyright) but simply didn't know how.