Smiles

The last couple of mornings have been so typically humourous and I have found myself laughing at the events as they have unfolded. Now, they are nothing on the grand scheme of things. But when your brolley brakes just as you try to open it having locked your front door and not having the time to run back in for another one, and it is windy, it is cold and it is very wet, it isn't nice being a damp spud on your way to work. Oh and the brolley didn't just break, it also took a clump out of my thumb, which then gushed blood all the way to work. I was damp and losing blood. I sucked it, then realising I looked silly (and I was being stared at), pressed tissue on it. It stopped and started but I eventually found a plaster to keep it at bay.

Morning two was a cold crisp day with sunshine and blue skies. Doing much goodness to my mood I walked to work with a skip in my step and a smile on how grand life is. Only to find that the platform was very busy. Clearly something was wrong. The boards claimed a train to London was due at the usual time. However, much to my surprise, a train going the other way arrived. You see, we have one platform (and no I do not live in a medieval town) and so both east and west bound trains arrive at the same platform and use the same track. So when the train arrived from the other direction I wondered what was going on. The assistant was explaining something but I couldn't hear. A gentleman (who I must add smiles at me everyday, although that is a discussion for later) explained that to get to London I would have to board this train, change at the next station and then change again later. Great fun. We were packed in on the trains like sardines. No seats of course, which I didn't mind too much but the squish was uncomfortable. Still at least I was able to board and get to work a mere 15 minutes late.

It might seem insignificant that these events took place but to me, life has finally slowed and I am finding time to appreciate the very small things in life. I am certainly in a happy place because even the most inconvenient episodes taking place in my life appear amusing. It certainly keeps my happiness flame alight.

I must say a word or two about the "platform man". Since the beginning of this year, and I'm not sure if it is a resolution of his, a gentleman has smiled at me whenever he sees me. He wears a wedding ring. He seems younger than me and I think he has a child. We board the same train. We board at the same part of the train (it is closest to the steps out of my destination station and therefore the appropriate time-saving door to board and we all know how obsessive I am about time-efficiency). I have tried to see if he smiles at other people as they pass by or stand by him. The answer is no.

He has a kind smile which makes me think he smiles at me because he knows we get the same train for work and simply wants to acknowledge the point. I am hoping that is the case although it is funny to think that I am getting any other kind of attention. I mentioned it to Toni when it first started. And now he receives regular smile-updates. Toni seems quite proud to know his wife is able to attract interest post-marriage (although I don't see why one can't - Toni gets alot from passers-by and I am quite flattered by it) and he has named the whole thing the "platform fling". Not that anything has got passed smiles, and only yesterday I was saying to my dear husband that I wonder if and when the platform man will start talking to me. And today we exchanged words. Although I don't think he was trying to make a pass at me, or spin me a line with helpful directions for getting to work! I will keep you posted of any developments.

I am all for making new friends. Keen on meeting new people. But I think paranoia gets the better of me and I usually suspect underhanded reasons for unusual behaviour. Now technically speaking, smiling is not unusual behaviour. A smile brightens up any day, especially a depressing January day when it is wet, windy, cold and grey. And I think smiling should be a condition on boarding any train to London, perhaps even the requirement to converse with your neighbour unless asleep/reading/listening to music. Trains are so very depressing places; I admit, I usually look like I'm on the verge of beating someone up, or breaking down into tears (although most of the time I just feel tired). It is nice once in a while then, and rather unusual too, when someone smiles a genuine smile.

I stood on the train today smiling at how life is lovely even though the trains were delayed. I have a wonderful husband. I have a beautiful home. I have a job I enjoy and caring family and friends around me. Life is blissful. I am beginning to appreciate things. When life is busy, you can't soak it all in. You end up missing out on lots of bits of happiness which you would have appreciated if you had the time for it.

And the sun is shining now (I can see daylight from my open plan cubicle through someone else's office) which makes me smile. And if someone chooses to smile, it is a good thing.