One Boomer's Quest for Joy to the World

A dear friend of ours has her own unique solution to the world's ills. It's simple, it's inexpensive, and I believe it may catch on. And, as Edith Wharton said, "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we'd have a pretty good time."

LET A SMILE BE YOUR UMBRELLA

As things are there is little to smile about these days. So, I have started my own campaign to make people smile. I distribute those wee, paper umbrellas.
I bought a gross of them & started at home by putting one in my husband's evening wine. He arched an eyebrow & flicked it out, but I could tell he was secretly thrilled. Encouraged by this I put one in my daughter's water, & she was delighted.

Later I stabbed several into her dinner.
"Are we expecting rain in the kitchen?" she quipped.
"I'm just spreading a little joy, baby," I said.
"Well do it someplace else, please," she responded.
"GOOD IDEA!!!" I enthused. My crusade had begun.

My first public unbrellaings were an immense success. My husband & I were waiting for a table at the bar of a restaurant. Next to us sat two women. By the look of things they were sisters out on a bonding evening. My eyes lit up as I reached into my purse. My husband eyebrowed me so I knew it was a great idea. I dropped an umbrella into each of their drinks.
"Oh, I feel as if I'm on a tropical island! What fun!" they gushed. I was on my way to the merrification of the world.

For a while I stuck to people in bars & as I had expected things went very well, but I began to think I was preaching to the choir. After all, these people were already out for a bit of fun, so where was the challenge in that? I shared my concerns with my daughter. I was boldly moving out of the safety of the drink arena and into the restaurant.
"Mom, strangers might not like you putting things in their food," she worried.
"Well, that would make them very strange indeed," I sniffed. She raised both her eyebrows & stared at the ceiling.

I remembered a favorite childhood lunch place called 'The Hamburger Express'. If you sat at the counter a toy train delivered your hamburger garnished with a paper umbrella. It never failed to delight me. My big chance came at a local luncheonette that I frequent. Sitting at the counter was a harried mom with an active child who was more interested in spinning on the stool than in eating his grilled cheese sandwich. I seized my opportunity & was poised to poke one into the congealing cheese when the mother suddenly became very upset.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE!" she shrieked as she wrestled the umbrella out of my hand. Her child stopped spinning & was looking anxiously at his mother.
"HEY! I'm trying to spread some FRIGGING cheer here!" I barked as I straightened out my jostled sleeve.

The owner, a friend of mine, came sauntering over to ascertain the situation. He took one look at the mother clutching the crumpled umbrella & the teary eyed boy, then one long look at me. He didn't raise an eyebrow. He simply took the umbrella from her hand & gently pushed it into the boy's sandwich. When he glanced back at me I'm pretty sure I saw his eyebrow move.

Let a smile be your umbrella