You know some people just make you smile
I pray you had a pleasant Easter Weekend and celebrated with loved ones. I did.
Larry, one of our senior systems analyst (the guru of all things pertaining to our system and how to fix what’s wrong) passed through the department today (we know his main reason for coming down was to visit my boss to discuss some ongoing conversion effort), knocking on the cubicle of my coworker and me in a gesture to say hello. When I heard the knock, I turned around to see who it was and asked how he was doing. “Better right this minute than I’ve been all day,” he replies and gives me the thumbs up sign before heading on to venture into the rest of his busy day. A smile immediately finds its way to my cheeks, quickly reaching my eyes, which squint and sparkle in full cheesy smile. “Cool, cool.” I reply. And just that quickly, he’s gone. The smile, however, lingers at his kind words. Small gesture, huge impact.
Now this guy Larry, I’m not quite sure when I found favor in his eyes. I remember back in 2005, I had a task that required me to undo several wrong transactions that was both laborious and tedious and slow. Larry and I had to work tag team; I would do something, he would do something, I would do another thing, he would do another thing, until we totally completed it. Seems like from that point forward, I found favor with him and anytime I’ve ever needed anything, he’s Johnny on the spot (or at least Johnny on the hour) with an answer or remedy.
He’s a nice guy anyway, extremely insightful, attentive to detail, and can work his way into and out of most of our system snafus. I notice, however that everyone doesn’t get the same responses from him as I do. There are days when we’ll email him and his automatic “busy” message is returned (similar to an out of office reply response), but within minutes he’ll email me back with a solution to what I was asking. There have been days where a coworker couldn’t get a response from him on something or had a problem getting in touch with him and I can during the same time frame. Now I’m not encouraging cronyism (good thing he’s not running for office, they might call him on it if he appointed me to some cabinet office), but I am suggesting that good relationships are what life is about. They are the grease of life that keeps all the levers and wheels turning smoothly.
Several years ago, my family attended a company picnic with me and Larry wanted to meet my folks but unfortunately didn’t have a chance to. The following Monday he came down to my desk, asked for a piece of paper and a pen. Puzzled at his request, I handed his the writing utensil and paper and waited earnestly as he scribbled something down. Folding the paper in half and returning it and the pen to me, he instructed me to “give this to your dad,” and walked away. Inquisitive about what he would write a note to my dad about, I unfolded the note and I’ll never forget what the paper said. It read:
Mr. Goodman,
I’m not sure who raised Crystal, but whoever it was did a fine job.
Larry
I’m not even sure if I ever gave my father the note, but let me tell you it was the ultimate compliment both to me and to my parents and I was thankful to Larry for thinking enough about me to point it out and commend my parents.
There are a few people that make me smile every time I see them. It’s no wonder that those people have over time been seated in my front row, my closest circle. I could be wrong but I believe it was Maya Angelou that said that at the end of the day, its all about how you make people feel that makes a difference. I’ve always been a generally friendly person and I find that when people refer to me they make some inference about my hospitality, my chillness, my making them feel comfortable, accepted, befriended, in some way, even if years have passed since I’ve been in contact with them.
I believe my smile is the beginning of that. Maybe that’s what Larry appreciated, even during the hard work. Maybe that’s what others see as an open door to be as friendly to me as I am to them. The law of sowing and reaping has definitely been good to me in this regard.
So to all you going through your day, and some just so happens to make you smile, take a second to bask in the moment of that joy. Like my home girl’s tagline says “Focus on things of value. No worries.” But don’t be selfish, give back. Make someone else smile.
Smiles and those who evoke them are valuable. Appreciate them.
To those who make me smile, you know who you are… and here’s a big one, just for you. And here’s a song that makes me smile.
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