Day 14

Greetings readers,

It has now been 2 weeks since the start of my... well I am not really sure what to call it anymore.  "New life" just does not seem to fit.  New outlook on life...?

Either way, perhaps it is time to take a look back on the last half-month.

In the last 2 weeks, I would like to believe that I have been successful in accomplishing my goal each and every day, even though there has already been one day where I could only accomplish my goal through a proxy.  It would be egotistical of me to assume that I have actually "made a difference" in people's lives, but perhaps simply by making them smile, I can make their day better, even if it is in some small way.

Some people might raise the objection that I am doing these things for people who may not deserve it.  I disagree.  The issue here, for me, is not whether I am finding people who are deserving of the things that I am doing, but whether I can simply make them smile.

Yes the argument can be made that most of the people that I am buying things for could probably afford it on their own.  That is not the point.  If I spent each and every day trying to find a person who could not afford things, or without my help would otherwise not be able to do something, I would never get anything done.

It is my honest belief that no matter what your place in life, no matter your past or your present, everyone deserves the opportunity that I am giving out; the opportunity to smile, and maybe have some fun.  That is what I believe.  It has not always been my belief, this is relatively new to me, but it is what I believe now.

Take today for example, today I went to visit R at her workplace, a local eatery.  She works as a waitress there.  I sat down and ordered some food, simply wishing to enjoy my time there, mostly because R was supposed to get off of work in about 20 minutes.

As I was waiting for my food, and since I was by myself with no one to talk to, I started reading a book that I had brought with me.  As I was reading, naturally I can hear the conversation of the table next to me.  I overheard the rather elderly couple sitting next to me talking about how happy they were to be celebrating their anniversary that day.

Well in the interest of simply being friendly, I leaned over and congratulated them on their anniversary, asking them how many years they had been married.  They told me that it was their 60th wedding anniversary.

Now maybe it is just me, but 60 years is a long time, just under 3 times my current lifespan.  I congratulated them again, and we struck up a conversation.

Eventually, at their invitation, I joined them at their table.  The three of us sat together, eat our food and talked about random things, from marriage to love, and how it is to be young (me) versus older (them).  For the record, they brought up that particular topic.

When the meal was winding down, and R was gathering up our plates, I excused myself to go use the restroom.  I intercepted R and handed her some money, telling her to use that to pay for not only my meal, but the couple's meals as well.

I waited in the back and appropriate amount of time, before heading back to the table.  Once I got back, I was asked a rather unexpected question by the couple.  They asked me if I could sing.

Well, let it be known that I can sing, rather well I suppose.  I took vocal lessons and was in a lot of musicals, both at my school and around town.  I answered their question with a yes, and they asked me to sing them something.

That was surprising.  In all honesty, it has been awhile since I have sung anything.  I started to wrack my brain trying to come up with a song.  I asked them what type of song they wanted to hear, and they told me that anything would do.

Well for some reason, my mind kept coming back to a certain song.  So in the end, I sang them the song "Mud on the Tires" by Brad Paisley.  I tried to keep it quiet, but unfortunately, it seems that everyone in the eatery decided to stop talking right then.

So I ended up serenading the entire restaurant, even though I studiously ignored everyone but the couple in front of me.  Needless to say, when I was done, there was applause, and my face most likely went several shades of red.

But it was all good, the couple really enjoyed it and smiled and thanked me for the time that I had spent with them.  I smiled back and told them that it was my pleasure.

When the checks came, or rather, lack of a check, the couple was surprised again.  The balance owed on their check was nothing.  I will give this couple credit for one thing, they are quite smart.  They looked at the check and then almost immediately over at me.

I just smiled and told them that I had taken care of the check for them.  They made one attempt to argue/pay me back, but I refused.

Again this couple smiled and told me that I was a very nice young man.  I just told them to enjoy their anniversary, before I got up and left the eatery to go outside and wait for R.  We had been R's last table, so now that we were done, she could get off of work.  Outside, I met the couple as they were leaving the eatery.  They thanked me one more time, smiling all the while, before they got in a car and drove off.

R then came outside and the two of us headed back to my place to hang out.

Now, the argument can be made that since the couple was at that eatery, then they can afford to eat there.  That is not the point.  The point is that I made them smile.  Whether it be through my actions, or my singing, they smiled, laughed, and were having a good time.

That is the undercurrent to all of this, making people smile, something that everyone deserves.

Until next time,
B