The Power of a Smile

When my mother was alive, she used to advise to me again and again about the value of just being nice. “Never underestimate the power of a smile, ” she would say. I fear she would be very disappointed looking at the world today.

A lot of people don't smile and, when itcomes to service today, they're just not nice. Now, don't get me wrong, not all serviceworkers -- but a good many. I was on the phone the other day with a computer help desk. First a man, then later a woman, who couldn't have been ruder. And this to a customer, who didn't know his way around a PC. The woman, in fact, seemed to be chewing gum as she unemotionally clicked off a series of commands for me to perform.

The next day I heard from a friend of mine who got a performance review without his boss once looking up at him. Not once. You see it everywhere: The cashier who won't move for you. The bank teller who loses patience with you. The boss who couldn't be bothered even nodding to you.

Gone are the days when people cared about you. It's a sign of the times, I suspect. Many people are in many jobs they do not like. They're not happy. And people who aren't happy aren't wish to make you happy. But that makes me sad -- for them and for this country.

People who aren't happy, who don't smile, who don't joke, who don't joke or make light of even bad situations, make for an even worse situation. And it spreads out like a cancer. Someone's rude to you, you're rude to them and to the next fellow you meet, and on and on, until we become a nation of unsmiling, annoying, worrying persons.

Smiles are contagious but so are angry looks. The boss who can't be bothered with his peon workers. The celebrity who can't be bothered with her annoying fans.

You know, my mom used to judge presidential candidates by how they smiled and if she liked them personally. I would say, “But Mom, you don't know if that smile is real. ” “Oh, yes I do. I can feel it, ” she would tell me. It's in their eyes, and it's in their smile. The rest just kind of falls into place.

［中文］

微笑的力量

母亲在世时，曾一次次跟我提起与人为善的重要。“不要低估微笑的力量。”她常常这样说。观看当今世界，恐怕她会很失望的。

如今许多人面无笑容，就在服务行业中也有许多人连起码的礼貌都不讲。当然，不要误解我的意思，我不是说所有的服务人员，但确实有一大批人如此。有一天，我打电话到一家电脑公司的咨询部，起先是位男士接听的，随后是位女士，他们简直无礼之极，冲我这个不熟悉电脑的顾客撒气。实际上听得出，那位女士一边嚼着口香糖，一边噼里叭啦地给我扔过来一堆指令让我自己去查。

又一天，我听一个朋友说，他的上司在给他做业绩评估时居然没抬头看他一眼，一次也没有。瞧，冷漠无处不在；呆板的商店收银员；爱发脾气的银行出纳；正襟危坐的公司老板。

热情洋溢的时代消失了。冷漠成了时代特征。我想其中深层的原因就是许多人在从事着他们不喜欢的职业，他们自己就不开心，而自己不开心的人就别指望他能让别人开心。这令我叹息——为他们，也为这个国家。

不愉快的人，他不会微笑，他不会幽默，玩笑也不会开，甚至处境糟糕也浑然不觉，他把事情弄得更糟糕。冷漠会像癌一样扩散。别人对你粗鲁，你回敬别人粗鲁，如此循环往复，直至形成一个没有笑意只有忿懑的国度。

笑容有感染力，怒容也同样如此。老板要打发任劳任怨的员工们；明星要躲避讨厌的追星族。

我母亲过去评价总统侯选人，总是看他们笑得如何，是否令她喜欢。我常反诘：“妈妈，可您不知道那笑是真是假呀！”她总是如此回答：“我知道，凭感觉。”真诚在眼睛里，真诚在微笑里。其余的倒是容易明白的。