Smiling At Strangers

An Australian visitor reminded me yesterday of one of the great things about being in Cambodia. She noticed that if she smiled at a stranger, they smiled back.

A couple of weeks ago I was riding my bicycle home from a language session when an old truck overtook. The back of the truck was down and goods were stacked high on top of the container as well as inside. Young guys, with shirts worn through by days of toil, perched above me. Inside the darkened container, I saw the sacks had been arranged to make room for a group of old women. They were all dressed in classic "country" uniforms- sarongs and long-sleeved blouses with checked scarved wound skillfully around their heads. I couldn't help but smile.

One of the women noticed and returned my smile. As the truck grunted, shook, kicked up dust, ground gears and rumbled pask, the distance between the old lady and me grew. Yet, as the distance grew, so did our smiles.... until I was left grinning at nothing at all but the gift of living in this city of contagious smiles.