LETTERS TO STRANGERS
...WORDS I HAVE POSTED PUBLICALLY IN VARIOUS PLACES IN RESPONSE TO OTHERS WORDS...
...a friend is a stranger waiting to be met...
BALLOONS
THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE... (I HOPE...) THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE... (I HOPE...) THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE... (I HOPE...) THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE...
there are so many colors in a rainbow
LETTERS TO STRANGERS
...WORDS I HAVE POSTED PUBLICALLY IN VARIOUS PLACES IN RESPONSE TO OTHERS WORDS...
...a friend is a stranger waiting to be met...
BALLOONS
January 13, 2000
>>>Feh, that's the first time I've ever been called wonderfully optimistic.
>>>[g] But my friend tells me that I'm wonderful to have on her side in a
>>>fight, and only half in jest. Trying to spread the warmth. LOL.
>
>> and you are :)
>> even if some grumps moan about smiles ;)
>>
>
>
it's a really evil habit of mine... I mean, trying to tickle a smile or giggle out of a grumpy person... sometimes I do it so poorly offense is taken...
but then, I've seen people act offended cuz another person - or even cuz a child smiled at them... once, in a park, I saw a kid walk over to a woman sitting on a bench in a park right outside a playground... the woman was just staring into space and had been there most of the afternoon... the kid's father was gathering things up as they were about to leave and as the kid walked passed the woman, he extended a helium filled balloon, offering it to the woman... after a moments silence, the woman stood up and shouted "can't you people keep your kids on a leash" and stormed out of the park...
I spoke to the dad as he was trying to explain grumpiness to the kid (who was about 4) and it turned out the kid had asked, earlier in the afternoon, why the woman sat all by herself... and the dad offered a few maybes, like maybe she's waiting for someone or maybe she's just tired or maybe she's sad or lonely and wants to be where people are and one of the maybes was maybe she likes to watch the balloons...
after the woman stormed off the kid's only response was 'maybe she doesn't like balloons' and he offered the balloon to me...
anyway, learning lessons like the one in the park that day taught me that most of the time, we find what we're looking for in a situation or in another person... if we want a smile, we usually can find one... and if we want to find offense, we can usually find it in the most innocent kindnesses... but maybe the most important lesson was the one the kid inadvertently taught me... that is to look at objects as objects and and behaviours and behaviours and people as people, and not to figure people out based on very limited information... I mean, maybe she just didn't like balloons...
so I'm still offering my balloons too :)
>> s'ok, cuz everybody's entitled to grump...
>> and hopefully everybody gets over their grumps eventually
>> and then, maybe they'll remember the smile
>> they received for no apparent reason at all :)
>>
>I hope so.
>grudge, unfortunately. Speaking from personal experience. :)
>
sad, but ultimately their choice... and a loss for everyone...
>> so anyway, is Micaela from the other group?
>> (sheepishly hoping it's not a character on the show
>>
>
>She's one of my buds whom I met on a mailing list called
>IMZADI_ALL, and I later invited her to ATSTNG when I started really
>enjoying myself over there.
>
>
more incentive to check out buying a grown up computer :)
>If the ep. that you saw part of was 'Seeds of Faith', I think I'll go punch
>myself.
>VCR set to tape tonight while I'm at Pathfinders.
>
I couldn't tell ya what ep. it was... I did have fun playing pool though :)
what's Pathfinders?... offline group?... the new roommates and I are considering joining a gym/pool/health club one of these days... I might even remember how good it feels to be in shape this year :)
may you find more smiles than frowns along your way :)
honest love, ric
so many colors in the morning sun
so many colors in a flower
and I see every one :)
-Harry Chapin-
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