It was a long ride ahead and the seat wasn’t exactly top on my list of amazing seats that I wanted to spend five hours in. Just as we were about to leave, a couple walks onto the bus. Little did I know, that this one couple would change my life. At the time, all I had known was that the man was obnoxious and I felt bad for the woman. They were a young couple of 28 and 21, I later learned. I also later learned that his name was Adam. The man, like I have previously mentioned, was absolutely annoying. From the moment he walked onto the bus and sat in the seats across and behind me, he didn’t shut up once except for when the driver put on “Independence Day”. If I wasn’t so damn nice, I would have told him to shut up.

With about an hour and a half left on my trip, I got an urge for company. The poor dude across from me that was being subjected to Adam’s rambling was staring at me with a pitiful look in his eyes that seamed to be screaming “HELP ME!!!” So I decided to save him from the stupid jokes Adam was spewing. At a pause I giggled and acted like whatever the fuck he just said was funny. And that started his rant being in my direction. After a catch of the appreciative look in the eyes of the stranger, I settled back in my seat and let Adam’s voice wash over me.

Among his many attempts of being funny, this one man had as many life stories as my grandpa. I was very interested to hear them. Over the course of his 28 years, he had been homeless, had traveled in circuses, held a few jobs for a while, and stayed with friends, just to mention a few things. The main thing that interested me though, was what he called his "Life Philosophy". This is what he told me:

"Everyone should smile. Think about it, if you smile, someone's automatic reaction is to smile back. But to smile back, they have to think about something happy first. And in doing so, their day will already get better and they will pass on their smile to other people."

Though I do not agree you must think about something happy to smile, I do agree that smiles are contageous and and one should smile to everyone the see. This one man may be so poor that he cant even pay attention (which was true because he did mention he had ADHD), but his outlook on life was amazing. And he was right, his smile did make me smile.

Good Luck Adam, let your smile touch the world!