Your neighbor washing his car

that he just washed yesterday

The little girl at the park

with the short black hair and almond eyes

Your sister who just got home from school

and slammed the door

The waitress at the cafe

who tries to smile as she hands you your lunch

 

You smile at all these people

It’s just your little way

of brightening your corner of the universe

Nothing significant

You’re just one person after all

 

Your neighbor washing his car

that he just washed yesterday

has a sister in the hospital dying of leukemia

and this is his way

of releasing all the pent up emotions

 

The little girl at the park

with the short black hair and almond eyes

got teased at preschool today

because in the family portrait she drew

she did not ‘match’ her family

 

Your sister who just got home from school

and slammed the door

is on the verge of tears because math is hard

and the boy she likes doesn’t like her back

and her sister hates her

 

The waitress at the cafe

who tries to smile as she hands you your lunch

doesn’t have any friends except for the fake ones

that pretend to like her but ‘forget’ to invite her to the party

and she wonders what she’s living for anymore

 

When you smile at all these people

your neighbor feels happy for the first time in a month

and realizes that maybe there’s still hope in the world

the little girl sees you with your Asian sister

and realizes that it is okay to be different

your sister realizes that math is not the end of the world

and that maybe you do still love her

but the waitress

you forgot to smile at the waitress

 

You were having a bad day

You just wanted to go home and get away from it all

So did she

She went home that night and held the pills in her hand

She gave you coffee

She smiled

You didn’t smile back

 

Turns out

your insignificant smile can make all the difference in the world