Collecting Smiles

By Tami Knight

On the way to my noon pedicure appointment, I stopped for coffee at Savaya. There are always several couples camped out at the tables, laptops open with concentration levels up. I wore simple straight leg Madewell jeans, linen L'Agence jacket, a burgundy bodysuit from Lulu’s, and black slip-ons. Pretty standard dress for me on this chilly 59-degree midday in Arizona. Two women looked up very briefly, smiled and went back to their screens.

The young man behind the counter took my order, asked my name and got to work on my latte. I walked to a vacant table, leaned against it and studied my iPad for mail on Yahoo. The young man (by my standards, maybe 35) called my name and handed me my drink.  

“You look nice,” he said.  

I thanked him, smiled, grabbed a napkin, turned and walked to the door. I had styled my hair that morning and I guess it came out alright!

Driving a couple miles north, I pulled up to Nail Trix. I walked in, flip flops and latte in hand and waved to Kim in the back. (Always bring your own flip flops!) She is a trusted friend and always has compliments and a kind word.  

I sat in the waiting area, purse and flip flops on my lap. A young mother (again by my standards, maybe 30) sat down just one seat away and gave me a nice smile as she looked my way. I smiled back and watched for Kim to be ready. I heard the mother talking as if to a child, and I leaned to my right to see around the front desk. Sure enough, a very young girl was getting her nails polished.

“How old?” I asked.  

“Five,” the mother said. 

“Oh, how fun for her!” I said.  

She was happy to have her daughter along as there was no sitter to be found that morning, so why not entertain her? Now the two of us were off and running talking about  first experiences. She asked if I had raised children and I responded saying yes, boys.  

Kim called me back to her pedicure station and we greeted each other with a hug and went through the usual pre-holiday pleasantries. It was quiet in the salon and it was nice to relax talking with her while she took good care of my toes.  

Nice to relax too with many simple midday interactions with people being so pleasant. Kim finished up (OPI bubble bath) and my flip flops were carefully slid back on to my feet. I walked towards the front door (toe separators in place) with several women looking ever so briefly my way.

Nice to collect so many smiles and to return them as any woman might. Life is good.

Wearing Allsaints

Jorge Chacón