Kindness and Smiling

This past week I've been sick. And well, I've sorta felt like crap. So one day during my off periods I went home to sleep, but had to go back to school for my last period. After my nap I was feeling better, but still had that blah-ness about me. I was walking back into the school and going back to the cafeteria to wait out the few minutes before the bell rang for 7th period. I passed a group of faculty members, I don't know their job titles, but they seem to have the authority to boss students around. Out of this group a man stopped me. Now, this is my 3rd year at this school and I've passed this guy a million times without him acknowledging me at all; I don't even know his name, but I think he is the chess club sponsor or something of the sort. But anyways, he stopped me. I assumed he was going to tell me I have to walk on the right side of the hallway, or that I needed to take off the bandanna I was wearing around my neck.  He didn't.
"Excuse me, ma'am... ma'am." I stop and turn around to make eye contact with him.
"Ma'am are you okay?" I nodded my head.
"It's just 'cause you aren't smiling, and you're too beautiful of a young lady to not be smiling."
Whoa. What? My hair is a mess. I have no makeup on. I'm wear a t-shirt and, like I already said, a BANDANNA. In no way did I look beautiful, or even socially acceptable. But he stopped me for no reason other than to tell me this...

In the next day or so, I was at the gas station. It was the Walmart gas station, so the register was outside in a little window you walk up to and pay, and the line to the window is made out of shelves with snacks and refrigerators with drinks in them. So after I paid the cashier, I turned around to walk back to my friend's car, and two guys were in line were blocking the only way out of this barricaded line. They were talking about something, I wasn't really paying attention just trying to get by them. One of them had a unspiked mohawk with a nose ring, the kind a bull would have, the other had long hair and a beard. They weren't like most people you encounter at gas stations around here, the scary people you are afraid will shoot you, they were friendly and seemed like fun. Anyways, they stopped me to ask me a question, whether or not the mohawked-one could pass as seventeen. He was clearly older and I laughed and told him no. The other one started laughing with me, and it turned into a perfectly nice conversation between the three of us. I said something else to make the longhaired-one laugh and he threw his arm around me and hugged me, that one armed type of hug, but squeezing me nonetheless.

As for the man at my school, I told him I was sick and he told me to feel better and sent me on my way, and my gas stations buddies let me go as well. These people left me with a smile plastered across my face, and a feelings of disbelief and amazement in my heart. My question is WHY? Why would anybody ever stop a complete stranger to tell them they look beautiful. Or why would one ever hug another person they've never met. I didn't think people actually did that, despite other people's stories I've heard about kindness towards others. Personally. I always try to ask people how the are, and tell them to have a good day. But this is better than that. This is a true act of kindness. I was sort of baffled at such things. It was just surprising... But both events made me feel incredible, even when I was sick. It makes me want to pass along the deed and do something to make a total stranger happy. In fact, I'm challenging anybody who may be reading this to do the same. You never know what is going on in somebody's life, and they might just be having a crappy day. By a simple random-act-of-kindness, you could turn everything around for them. Just showing that you care, or having a simple conversation with somebody can make them happy. If you see some who isn't smiling, give them a reason to smile. You could make their day, or maybe their week.