Somebody, somewhere atop mount Olympushas flicked a switch this morning(insert appropriate godly location for your belief system - Olympus presented itself to me because we watched “Clash of the Titans” late last night). The switch is labelled “like Jonathan”, or something similar… you know, like a giant imaginary Facebook “like” button.
Why do I say this? Because of two random acts of kindness I witnessed this morning.
The first one occurred as I reached a normally busy road end where you take your life in your hands on a mountain bike, diving through gaps into the school-run traffic to do battle with the four wheel drive monster child-carrying trucks. As I rolled to a halt, a bearded maniac invoked the “all cyclists are invisible” charm, cut the corner off the T-junction, and caused me to take evasive action. I re-claimed my position in the center of the road, shaking my head, and then something very strange happened.
A large, sleek, silver four wheel drive truck rolled to a halt, and waited to turn. A gap in the oncoming traffic presented itself, and I glanced up at the driver’s face to see if they were going to let me go (you are normally met by the vehicle already moving, and immediate evasive action). That didn’t happen today. My gaze was met through the vehicle window by a beautiful dark haired girl, who fixed eye contact with me, flashed the most wonderful smile, and nodded. The exchange was over in an instant, but stayed with me as I pedalled off up the road.
And so on to the second event of the morning.
A mile or so further on - while navigating the single track country road leading to the estate where I work, I met another four wheel drive travelling in the opposite direction. Normally this would lead to me either being forced into the hawthorne bushes at the side of the road, or turned round to find the previous passing place. That didn’t happen. The vehicle waited, glinting in the morning sunshine.
As I approached, and aimed my bike for the gap left for me, I looked up and again - for the second time this morning my glance was met by a beautiful girl. She fixed eye contact with me, and broke into a wide smile. I smiled back, and we shared a fleeting moment of the morning - not knowing each other at all, but somehow making each other’s morning better.
Of course, now I am imagining that the two chance encounters could quite possibly have been daughters of Zeus - demigods sent to remind me that the world isn’t all bad after all. Or perhaps it’s more simple than that. Perhaps it’s a reminder that a smile is a powerful thing.