| Blogs > PipioloYmas > My Blog |
|
A smile is a smile The title of this post reminds me that joke called "Fifty Dollars Is Fifty Dollars" and, given that this post is about smiles, let me start by reproducing that joke: Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would say, 'Esther,I'd like to ride in that helicopter.' Esther always replied, 'I know Morris, but that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars' One year Esther and Morris went to the fair, and Morris said, 'Esther, I'm 85 years old. If I don't ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance.' To this, Esther replied, 'Morris that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars.' The pilot overheard the couple and said, 'Folks I'll make you a deal. I'll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say a word, I won't charge you! But if you say one word, it's fifty dollars.' Morris and Esther agreed and up they went. The pilot did all kinds of fancy manoeuvres, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word. When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, 'By golly, I did everything I could to get you to yell out, but you didn't. I'm impressed!' Morris replied, 'Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know, fifty dollars is fifty dollars!' I left home around 3:30 PM for a walk around Amsterdam. The day is quite nice, for sure nicer than the average for mid-September in Holland, and walking is a pleasure in this weather. What was more estrange is that as I left home a smile "jumped" onto my face and took over I just couldn't get rid of it, irrespective of whether I wanted... and I didn't want, of course. Even more curious was the effect that it had on others. I smiled to men and women irrespective of their age or what they were doing. And 90% of the occasions the response was another smile... GUAUUUUU!!! With these events hanging around my head I got to Dam square, in the centre of the city, where I saw a scene that made me (and everybody watching) smile even more. A mime dressed up as King Kong and wearing a quite impressive mask was standing on the small platform that they use when an Indian (I believe they were Indian) couple approached him. The lady, indeed a beautiful slim lady, step up the small platform to pose BY "King Kong" while her male partner got prepared to take the picture. Then, to the surprise of the lady and the watchers, "King Kong" decided to take her in his arms. Well, I know a little bit about cultural differences and know that this would not be tolerable in certain cultures... but don't know about India's. Anyway, the lady complained trying to get free of the arms of "King Kong" but couldn't, until she realised that a picture like that was going to be something different from the standard tourist picture, and stopped fighting and let "King Kong" hold her for the picture. Where's the smile here? In the dozen of tourists and myself that were contemplating the scene and the comments that we, the watchers, crossed among us  The Indian lady left also with a smile while she contemplated the picture taken by her partner So, remember: if in doubt... smile!!! |
