Michael

I flew to California today from Rhode Island. The weather system in the South and Midwest had caused numerous delays. Many people seemed to be grumpy, slightly stressed and not in a great mood. I didn’t see many faces with smiles nor did I hear much laughter.

So, I decided to try a little experiment. I was sitting in row 9 on a 757, which is right next to the entrance to the plane. I put on a non-threatening smile and looked in the eyes of as many people as possible. I wanted to see how many travelers would trade their blank or grumpy looking face for a smile.

It was quite amazing. I’m estimating over 3/4 of the people I looked at smiled back at me. It was great seeing how each smile transformed everyone’s face into something very pleasing. For some of the people that smiled, I smiled back even more which made them smile more. I had discovered the smile feedback loop. It didn’t take much effort to keep the feedback loop going!

Don’t you find it easy to judge people when they don’t have a smile? I used to do that all the time. Not a great habit to get into. I’m better at not doing that now, but old habits take some time to change.

Next time you are traveling or shopping or hanging around large groups of people, try smiling a little more and observe the effects. You may be changing someone’s day for the better.

Michael