Rise And Shine

I was up earlier than usual to speak to a group of people at a company that starts the day much earlier than the rest of us.  I have no regrets since everything went very well and I had been eager to speak with them, whenever they had time.  Before I went, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some donuts for them…

1. As I was walking up to the front door another gentleman who was coming out smiled at me and said good morning. 

2. Just inside the store I met one of the young ladies working there.  She also had a smile and a good morning for me.

3. Grabbing the donuts I was looking for quickly I noticed that the store was still fairly quiet at that time of day.  The gentleman who was running the register was very nice and efficient in addition to having a great smile to match the attitude.  The older gentleman bagging at the end of the counter was also very pleasant with a grand smile of his own.

4. The presentation, as I said, went really well and also afforded me three more smiles.

With 7 more smiles today the total for the campaign is now 438!  I can’t believe how fast that number is growing.
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Good Morning Sunshine

I made a campaign stop first thing this morning since I needed to pick up some large envelopes.  Here is how Day 115 of Campaign Smile looked…

1. As I walked merrily down the main aisle on my way to the far side of the store I passed a woman hurriedly pushing her cart of purchases.  She did not look at me, working very hard to not look at me.  She did, however, glance sideways at my smiling expression.  She looked away just as quickly but made one more glance before she was too far past.  I could think she was uplifted, if a little put off, by my smile or I could think she thought me some freak that must be on drugs.  I choose to think the former since I was only high on life.

2. An older man approached me a little further down the same aisle.  I noticed him, looked over and found him staring right through me.  I kept smiling, nodded, even said good morning but all I got was a stare.

3. I then encountered a blonde woman.  I smiled at her and watched as her face lifted into a smile and, when she thought I was far enough past to not notice, drop.  Still, even a forced smile is good.  It will, inevitably, improve one’s mood.  Don’t believe me?  Try it.  Smile and try to be in a bad mood.  It’s pretty difficult.

4. Two different men who were working for the store passed me, separately, as I made my way around the store.  Each offered to help and each had a nice smile to match.

5. The cashier was also very positive and had a great grin to match.

6. At lunch I was pleased to find a smiling young lady waiting to help me when I walked in.  As I was eating, an older gentleman, seated near me, turned and, in addition to showing a nice smile, conversed with me about a number of topics for a short while.  I was a little surprised when I returned after getting up to get something to find he had left.  Still, I was happy to have had the chance to speak with him.

Those 6 smiles today bring the total to 431!
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Mix And Mingle

Campaigning for Day 114 of Campaign Smile took me to retail stores, restaurants and a business event.  The route of the smile parade went like this…

1. I was in a few stores today and got a few smiles.  One woman was walking quickly with her husband but following a few steps behind.  I saw him emerge from the aisle and slowed to let him pass.  As I moved forward I nearly collided with the woman.  We both smiled and laughed about it.  Another woman passed me outside one of the stores and smiled back at me.  Inside one of the stores a young lady smiled and asked if I needed help.  Another gentleman, working in a different store, smiled as he, also, nearly collided with me and hurried by.

2. At lunch the young lady I spoke with first had a great smile.  The gentleman who brought the food, however, could not find his smile despite my best efforts.

3. This evening I attended a combination networking/informational presentation event.  Before the speaker started I had the chance to speak with 8 other professionals, discuss our different businesses and, of course, trade smiles.

This brought the daily total to 13 and raised the campaign total to 425!  We are soaring now.
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Rubbing Elbows

My campaign stop for Day 113 of Campaign Smile was a networking event for the local Chamber of Commerce.  I was not able to stay for the entire event so my interactions were fairly limited.  However, including the bartender, in addition to saying hi to several dozen people as we milled about for the hour I was there, I also spoke more in-depth with seven people.  Of those seven, only 5 had smiles to offer.  It was a limited experience for the campaign and, thus, a limited recounting I am sorry to say.  Still, with 5 more smiles we now bring our total to 412!
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Let’s Get Something Started

Day 112 of Campaign Smile led me to the permit office, the sports store and to a meeting for organizing an upcoming event.  Here are the details…

1. I had it in my head today to talk with several retail stores in a local town to set up a display of what my company sells for the day to reach a new market.  Fortunately, before I went to those stores, I started by finding the permit office to see what restrictions I would face.  The young lady that greeted me initially was somewhat soft-spoken with a nice smile.  She went to find the woman I needed to see and brought her out to see me.  This woman, while still pleasant, had no smile and no help for me, letting me know, in no uncertain terms, that I could not do what I wanted at all.  I wasn’t completely surprised.  I have worked all over the state and found a few cities that don’t allow it but I was a little disappointed since I had big plans in my head for the idea.  Even though I did not get permission I still got to speak to 2 very nice women and got one smile.

2. After checking department stores and shoe stores yesterday and today I finally tried the sporting goods store to find the water shoes we needed for our water excursions on our upcoming trip.   If you are wondering why I didn’t think of that first, I did.  It was just a longer trip than the other, closer options so we tried them first.  The young lady running the cash register was, despite finding the registers suddenly understaffed as customers lined up with only her and one other gentleman, very cordial.  She also had a winning smile through everything that she was doing.

3. Somehow, as I said, I ended up at a planning meeting for an upcoming event.  I had seen a post about the event on Facebook and forwarded it to our internet marketer to see if we were participating.  Oddly enough, she forwarded it to the main office and, when I happened by the office last week, the woman there brought it up.  She wondered if I would like to see what it was about, not even realizing I had started the whole thing.  When I walked in the building I was unsure where I needed to go.  The security guard and the woman holding a yoga class next door both took it upon themselves to walk with me and find someone who could call the right person to figure it out.  They were very helpful and had great smiles to match.  I was expecting a large room full of people but was surprised to walk into a small room with a boardroom table and a few chairs.  This led me to being a lot more involved in organizing an event I was meant to simply see if we wanted to participate in.  Still, I enjoyed the meeting and have plenty of time and ability to do what I said I would.  Plus, I got 10 more smiles.

That is a total of 14 smiles for the day bringing the campaign total to 407!
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Chillin’ On The Coast

Day 111 of Campaign Smile was fantastic.  I started the day with my wife and a trip to the beach, had a nice dinner out later and finished with a quick journey to the grocery store to pick up an ice cream treat….

1. On our trip to the beach we got an early start so there were not a lot of people there when we arrived.  However, as we enjoyed our time there we watched the place fill up with a lot of people out for a last hoorah before school starts Monday.  A young lady we encountered was very pleasant but had no smile for me.  The young man we passed next was both kind and smiling.  As we made our way to our chosen spot we passed two separate older women.  Each was quite cheery and had a great smile to offer.

2. Dinner was pleasant with good food and exquisite service.  The four people helping everyone were busy but attentive and had smiles to match.

3. At the grocery store the young lady running the register was happy to return my smile with a tremendous one of her own.

With 8 more smiles today, this wonderful day also added enough to the total to bring it to 393!  Get ready for Monday.
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Limited Exposure

On Day 110 of Campaign Smile I had only brief opportunities to campaign.  Except for a brief lunch my projects did not take me into the company of others much.  However, I took my one opportunity and made the most of it.  The woman who was taking our order was “smiling” and saying the right things in the right manner.  It felt false to me so I made a point of waiting for her to actually look me in the eye so I could give her my big grin.  I managed to expand her small, forced smile to a broad real smile.  It was only one for the day but the quality of the impact made up for the lack of volume.  Our total for the campaign now rises to 385.
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