Christmas Eve Smiles

Merry Christmas, everyone! I just wanted to share a lovely moment of Christmas spirit that happened yesterday and made me smile.

One of my part-time jobs is at a fast food restaurant that is slightly nicer than some you may encounter. My younger brother, Asher, is also employed there, and we were both working yesterday, Christmas Eve, for the lunch shift.

We were partway through the rush when the phone rang and I answered as usual with my customary, “Thank you for calling…, this is Avital, may I help you?”

The lady on the other end of the line starts off with, “I was just in there…” and my first reaction was of the oh-no-not-another-one-why-do-I-always-get-the-mad-ones variety. However, she continued with, “…and I just wanted to say thank you to Asher for being so pleasant. He really made my day!”

I was so surprised I could barely respond with a “Thank you so much, I’ll be sure to let him know!” As soon as we had a pause, I told the whole crew (all three of them besides myself) what she had said. The immediate response from the females was “Awwwwwww!” My brother, of course, had a reaction more along the lines of “That's so awesome!”

So thanks to one woman who went out of her way to say thank you to someone for making her day, she made my day, and my brother’s day, and our other two co-workers’ days as well. Remember that when you’re making decisions in life you can greatly affect others, so do try to be kind.

Merry Christmas!

A Beautiful Beginning

Browsing another old notebook (I’ve been cleaning my room) and found another written doodle I wanted to share. Enjoy!

Dated Saturday, May 20, 2006-in Toronto, Canada, on a homeschool group high school class trip, in the morning while on the roof of the building we were staying in

The day is beautiful; the air cool, crisp, and clean. Last night’s rains have washed the flaws and imperfections from the streets and the skies. The sun shines down through the clouds and the delicate blue of the morning to touch my face, my hands, my feet.

It is a good day to be alive, a wonderful day, an utterly amazing day.

The city awakes; taxis pick up their first passengers, friends and lovers take an early morning stroll along the sidewalks and through the parks. Inside those still sleeping begin to awake; there is a Frisbee waiting for an eager hand and a quick toss; a shop sits silently with doors locked, awaiting the key that will reveal the wonders inside to the rest of the world.

It is just another day like all the rest, but deep inside the quiet minds of a lucky few lies the unconscious expectancy of a new day, a new experience, a new thought, a new dream.

Today is a day for living, for being a part of the heartbeat of the city, for knowing the blessing of opportunity and living up to the great potential of this glorious day.

Today is a new day; remember that and keep it with you always.

To Be Attractive... Or Not

I was flipping through an old notebook and found an interesting little written doodle about attractiveness, and I thought I’d share. So here it is.

Dated Friday, July 25, 2008

I wonder why one person considers another person attractive. That’s a strange thing to think on. There are some people, like famous actors, that a lot of people find attractive. But not everyone will. I doubt that there’s any one single person in the world that every other person in the world is going to find attractive.

Beauty is such an ephemeral concept. The perception of beauty and what is considered handsome, attractive, or good-looking varies from culture to culture and society to society. The global information network allows for communication and transfer of ideas across seas and continents. Many stars are globally famous, and it is to be assumed that a large number of people around the world consider those stars handsome, beautiful, attractive, good-looking, etc.

There are also cultures in various countries whose ideal of appearance would be thought to be strange, if not downright unpleasant. It’s such an interesting phenomenon.

I also wonder what makes people attractive to me. My best friend and I have different taste in guys, but not entirely opposite. You could gather together, say, 100 guys, and I guarantee that there will be a group of them that my friend finds attractive and I don’t, a group of them that I think are attractive and she doesn’t, and then there will be some that we both find attractive.

That sounds about right to me. Glad I agree with my past self!