The Smile Experiment

This morning something happened to me which has convinced me to start an experiment that I've been meaning to carry out for some time now. I passed a woman on the sidewalk, and as we passed we made eye contact and she smiled at me. I smiled back and almost instantly my mood changed from slightly grumpy to generally pleased and happy at the thought that a total stranger smiled at me. That feeling stayed with me all the way to the office this morning. Most of the time when I walk around San Francisco, people seem to have their "game face" on. They walk around with blank or serious looks, avoiding eye contact and not smiling at anyone. Well, for the next few weeks I'm going to carry out a little experiement which I first dreamed up several months ago. From now on, if I make eye contact with a stranger (male or female) walking on the street, I'm going to smile at him or her and then note the reaction. I'm curiuos to see what kind of effect smiling at people has on others and whether it's possible to crack the hard outer shell of city dwellers. Check back for results in the coming days & weeks.