It’s hilarious to see big, hard faced, serious-looking men just melt when a little boy smiles and waves at them.  Their features immediately soften and a cheesy grin spreads across their faces. They mostly throw back a hearty wave, sometimes they add a deep-voiced “hi.”  Early on when my son Devin started waving at strangers I was embarassed and wished that he would act like a normal New Yorker.  It’s just not in our nature to smile and wave at people that we don’t know, and Devin needed to understand that.  Then, recently I briefly spoke to the owner of the school/daycare he attends and the man told me that every morning he gets a big smile and wave from my son.  The way he told it made me think that maybe it wasn’t so emabrassing after all.  In fact we can all probably learn a little something from my three year old. It takes about two seconds to acknowledge someone with a genuine smile.  Two seconds.  Even with my busy schedule I can spare two seconds.  Try it and see if the person smiles back.  You never know, you may just make someone’s day.  (Or you may just get a beat-down if you choose to smile at a beautiful woman who’s with her jealous boyfriend.  You’ll still be able to smile, but with fewer teeth!)     

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