The auto was barely topping 20 mph on the bumpy dirt road. I was in the very back of the auto bouncing around like a rag doll being tossed by a small child when we passed a couple of women on the side of the road carrying water jars on their heads. They stopped to stare at the strange white people driving past. As I was staring back, I noticed they were not smiling or even had a look of happiness about them. We continued on our journey passing more people on the side of the road with the same reaction. I began to think, which if you know me well, typically that means I am about to cause a little trouble. The next group of people we were to drive by, I was determined to smile and get a reaction from them. The only problem is in the Indian culture you are not suppose to smile at or look a man in the eyes because it represents flirting.
Thankfully, the first group of people we passed was a group of children who once saw me smiling, immediately began to smile and giggle. I began to giggle myself watching their reactions. It worked! The next group of people we passed had a mixture of women and children in it. I smiled. The children began smiling and giggling. Then it happened, the women started to smile. Thus The Smile Game began!
I began smiling at everyone we passed as long as there was not a group of men around. If I couldn't get them to smile back, I would wave and wait for them to wave or at least smile. The reactions were priceless! Most children were more than willing to smile and wave. The women, well that is a different story. I had to work really hard to get them to even crack a little smile. I would make eye contact so they knew I was looking at them and my smile would grow bigger by every second. Most women would eventually smile. There was one woman who I will never forget her reaction. The game had started and she was not willing to smile. She even looked away. But then she looked back at me to see if I was still watching her. I was still smiling the biggest smile I could. She turned her head quickly and grabbed her the tail end of her sari to cover up the smile she was trying so desperately to hold in. She looked back at me one more time and quickly turned away, this time covering her huge beautiful smile.
I don't know if they were smiling because of how goofy I looked or because for that one moment they felt like someone actually cared about them and their existence in this world matters . I would like to think it was because they felt like someone cared about them. I believe that smiles are contagious and are one of the easiest and simplest ways to say I care about you. I also believe that God will radiate through a smile. That is the whole purpose of this game! Not to make me feel better, which it did, but to show people God and that He cares about them.
Even if you are having a bad day, I would encourage you to try The Smile Game. You would be surprised at how quickly your bad day becomes a great day and how many people's day you will make. They may not smile back and they may look at you like you are crazy but is it not worth taking the risk? They will remember you and most importantly they will see God radiate through you.
