There are some things that came to me as I sat in traffic this morning, the abyss of cars swallowing me. I had left my house and headed to the office a 20-mile but hour-long commute was ahead of me. I began this morning much like any other, radio on my favorite station, windows cracked just a bit, and my mascara in hand (yes, I admit, I am one of those women). There was something in me that just felt a little bit different—a little brighter.
I finished the makeup application at light number one and placed the mascara back in the bag as I belted out the next radio jam. I glanced in my rearview mirror, to make sure it was all on straight and noticed a sparkle. I smiled at myself and thought, “It’s a great morning.” There was no particular reason today was a great morning, not my birthday or even Friday for that matter, but just a great morning.
Light number two, it was red but that didn’t really matter, still a great morning. I sent my usual morning texts and even added the nerdy :) at the end. I sat back in my seat and prepared for the usual dreaded highway windshield time. As I merged onto the highway, I noticed I was happy—truly happy. In that moment, entering a six-lane highway full of hundreds of other drivers, I was different. I decided that today would be a great day all day long ... not just a great morning! I glanced over my shoulder to merge in to the next lane and noticed that I was smiling at the “less than desirable” construction workers in the beat up old truck beside me.
As I sat there, every car that passed, I glanced and smiled at the driver. I thought maybe this will make them have a great day, too. Some smiled back, some looked at me like I was a lunatic, and some did not even acknowledge there were other cars on the road, much less some woman smiling at them.
There was one, though, who smiled back with the same kind of smile I had sent. He had a green sweater on with a white collared shirt under it, dark hair, dark eyes, and just that right amount of sexy scruff. He was handsome, too handsome for me ... or so I thought. As we traveled along, every time we would pass, there was a smile exchange. I caught myself—am I flirting with some random man in traffic? OMG, me? I so was! And much to my disbelief, he was, too! Our little flirt session along highway 114 was making my day and hopefully brightening his.
As we hit the mixmaster of five different highways, I lost track of him. I looked in my rearview mirror and thought, what a great day this is going to be. How can it be that some random man in the middle of traffic can help me have a great day? Its simple really; his smile gave me a self confidence boost, a “you are pretty enough to stop traffic” boost. In reality, I will never see Mr. Green Sweater again, but we had a smile exchange party sitting in traffic that made me continue to smile all day. Thank you, Mr. Green Sweater!
I think tomorrow, I will smile at the drivers next to me again and hopefully make someone else’s day. Why don’t you?
