2001-03-21 - 07:34 p.m.

It never ceases to baffle me how people respond to a little kindness. I was in a pretty good mood on the way home (despite yet another day of hellish firefighting at work)...I stopped off at a couple of stores and took care of a little plan of mine. Then I stopped by the grocery store to pick up things for dinner for me and Quivas.

In the line to pay I was joking around with the cashier and the bag boy. I like giving grocery store personell a lil fun now and then - spice up their job. They smiled and laughed and said they rarely got customers who treated them like real people rather than robots.

Then I went out to my car and another vehicle had pulled in beside me. I stood patiently while an older woman took her time getting out of the car. When she realized I was waiting she got all flustered. I simply smiled at her and remarked that it was hardly going to hurt me to wait a few seconds and she should take her time. She looked at me like I was from outer space. Then as she walked off I yelled in a friendly voice - "have a nice day". The poor woman didn't know what the hell to do.

Sad that people don't know how to react to a little kindness. So I've decided to make it my little mission for awhile to kill people with kindness. It makes me feel good and it gets some damn interesting reactions. So I'm working on the smile on my face and general good mood. Lets see if I can avoid letting daily annoyances kill it for a bit.

Happiness is a choice no? Time to choose it.