Thank you!

Just a story to share that shows smiling at strangers does matter
I was walking home from coffee and found a bunch of white flowers on the ground so I bent down and picked it up. Flowers always make me smile so naturally I was smiling. Then an old man passed me carrying a box of to go food. For the most part I look up while I walk and try to make eye contact with the people I pass. This habit comes from a self-defense class I took years ago that instilled in me the importance of keeping your head high (not looking at the ground) to help prevent getting attacked. Thinking nothing of it, I smiled at the old man carrying the box of food and he kind of smiled back. When we were about ten steps away from each other he said "Excuse me" very loudly. When I turned around to see if he was speaking to me he looked at me with a large smile and said "Thank you for the smile." I smiled even larger and said "You are welcome" and then turned around to continue home. My entire disposition changed in that instant, I walked home with a happy bounce in my step and a perma-smile plastered to my face. So for all those people who avoid my eye contact and don't smile back, I will not remember them but I guarantee you a year down the road (even 10 years later) I will remember the old man who thanked me for my smile.