The Power of a Smile

桂建友

When my mother was alive， she used to preach to① me again and again about the value of just being nice.

“Never underestimate② the power of a smile，” she would say.

I fear she would be very disappointed looking at the world today.

I was on the phone the other day with a computer help desk. Firstly a man， then later a woman， who couldnt have been rude. And this was to a customer， who didnt know his way around a PC. The woman， in fact， seemed to be chewing the gum③ as she unemotionally clicked off a series of commands for me to perform④.

The next day I heard from a friend of mine who got a performance review without his boss looking up at him. Not once.

You see it everywhere.

Gone are the days when people cared about you. Its a sign of the times， I suspect. Many people are in many jobs they do not like. Theyre not happy. And people who arent happy arent wishing to make you happy.

And it spreads out like a cancer. Someones rude to you. Youre rude to them and to the next fellow you meet， and on and on， until we become a nation of un-smiling， annoying， worrying persons. Smiles are contagious⑤ but so are scowls⑥.

You know， my mom used to judge presidential candidates⑦ by how they smiled and if she liked them personally. I would say， “But Mom， you dont know if that smile is real！”

“Oh， yes I do，” she would tell me. “I can feel it.”

Its in their eyes， she would say. And its in their smile. The rest just kind of falls into place.

母親在世時，曾一次次對我說教與人為善的重要。

“不要低估微笑的力量?！彼洺＿@樣說。

觀看當今世界，恐怕她會很失望的。

有一天，我打電話到一家電腦公司的咨詢部，起先是位男士接聽的，隨后是位女士，他們簡直無禮之極，沖我這個不熟悉電腦的顧客撒氣。實際上聽得出，那位女士一邊嚼著口香糖，一邊面無表情地噼里啪啦地給我扔過來一堆指令讓我自己去查。

又一天，我聽一個朋友說，他的上司在給他做業績評估時居然沒抬頭看他一眼，一次也沒有。

瞧，冷漠無處不在！

熱情洋溢的時代消失了。冷漠成了時代特征。我想這深層原因乃是許多人在從事著他們不喜歡的職業，他們自己就不開心，而自己不開心的人別指望他讓別人開心。

冷漠會像癌癥一樣擴散。別人對你粗魯，你回敬別人粗魯，如此循環往復，直至形成一個沒有笑意只有憤懣的國度。笑容是有感染力的，板著臉也同樣如此。

我母親過去評價總統侯選人時，總是看他們笑得如何，是否令她喜歡。我常反詰：“媽，可您不知道那笑是真是假呀！”

她總是如此回答：“我知道，憑感覺?！?/p>

母親常常說，真誠在眼睛里，真誠在微笑里。其余的倒容易明白了。