Thanks Again, Stranger

Friday, 15 July 2005.

One day, last summer, I travelled from Portland to Boston by Greyhound bus. It was a very stressful time for me… but as I got on the bus and sat down, I saw this etched in Sharpie on the back of the seat in front of me:

"Thank you, stranger, for your theraputic smile."

“Thank you, stranger, for your theraputic smile.”

I don’t know who wrote it, and I don’t know why; nor do I know who the stranger was, or what the writer was hurting from. However, I do know that their smile didn’t just affect the writer; their passing it on affected myself as well. I felt better. Maybe by passing it on here, it can affect someone else, too.

I suppose a smile goes further than we can comprehend. I'm certain that the stranger never expected to see their smile on the internet.

Lavender, the Lonely Pink Elephant