Seeing Red

In the short time I've been driving, one piece of advice I always hear is... Never let the petrol run down to red. In the short time I've been driving, I almost always hold my breath hoping that I'd make it to a petrol station, because I am the person that always runs it down to red.

Today was no exception, I pulled up to the station just in time... thanking out loud to no one and secretly patting the dash board as if it were a dog.

As I filled up allowing my motor to re-hydrate I looked around. I looked to my left and saw a man yawning as he pumped petrol into his car, to my right a lady was squeezing the handle so tightly she must have been in a rush hoping the fuel would flow faster!

Petrol pumps are a lot like using a urinal... when you’re done you shake it and return it back to its home.

I paid for the drink and drove off on my journey to work... knowing that the tank was a little bit fuller and my wallet was a lot lighter!

The more I drove the more I looked around.

I would look at the car next to me as I waited for the lights, I would pretend not to stare at the man shouting at his wife/mistress/lover and I would get shy as I got caught staring at a man who had a huge beard but no hair.

The more I looked around the more I realised... No one smiled.

Ladies, men, workers, joggers and truck drivers. Not one of them smiling. I then looked into the rear view mirror and to my surprise, nor was I.

If you look around, a glance, a quick scan, just how many people are smiling? Why is it that we go about our day only smiling when we see people or find something funny?

What happened to the smile?

I had roughly 10 minutes left of my journey, bad enough as I was already 4 minutes late. I decided to smile.

As I smiled I turned up the music, I looked to my left and right, I found it started to make me laugh... I then nearly hit a curb and swerved. I resumed my smile and started to realise people didn't really smile back; one man looked at me as if I was crazy and another nearly swerved himself!

I quickly found a smile un-nerves and shakes us. It is not what we are use to seeing.

If I drove to work and saw a man grinning I'd probably laugh, I’d probably smile myself. The fact is, sometimes we are too tired, too self-conscious or just don't realise that we have something to smile about.

No one smiles all the time and if you do then great. The reality is people need something, someone or a memory to provoke a smile.

We all have things that bring us down, we all have days where a smile is the last thing we want to do... but sometimes a smile is what we need even when you're running on empty and in danger of breaking down. They say a smile goes a long way, a smile is free and a smile causes less wrinkles... A smile is like saying you're ok.

Remember that.

Everyone deserves a smile... So who are you smiling about?