Did They Make a Law About a Goofy Smile?

In the movie Date With Tad Hamilton, Pete, the main character, is telling the villain, Tad Hamilton, that Rosalie, whom Pete is in love with, “Do you know she has six smiles? One when something really makes her laugh. One when she’s making plans. One when she is laughing out of politeness. One when she is uncomfortable. One when she is making fun of herself. And one when… she’s talking about her friends.”

Do you know how many you have?

I like to be cheesy. My wife says I have a goofy smile, then a real smile. The goofy one comes out when I am taking pictures that I want to be seen. I make a HUGE grin, and it makes my cheeks rise and my eyes get big. Almost like I am kind of psychotic. Noell, my wife, says when I am with my kids I have the “I am proud of you smile.” It’s the one when I am thinking great thoughts and do not know anyone is looking.

How many people do you know with a great driver’s license photo? No one, really. I have been told that I have a great face for radio before, so I figured that if I can’t get a good pic if I tried, I would go a different route. One of the things I have learned is that people can act pretty goofy to get some Chick-fil-A, so occasionally I use this to my benefit. When I was at the tag agency and I wanted to do my cheesy smile, they said no. I asked why, and they said they are not allowed to do that, because when they see me when I get pulled over, it needs to look like me (they saw my Mustang, and I guess assumed this happens a bunch). I asked if it’s against the law, and they didn’t know. I said what if I promise that when anyone that is looking at my drivers license I agree to make that cheesy grin, PLUS I will give everyone in the tag office a FREE Chick-fil-A sandwich coupon. She kind of chuckled and said are you serious, and I said yes. So, we made it happen. She agreed. (little did she know I had some coupons with me to do that regardless because we just rolled out our spicy chicken sandwich and its one of the best ways to promote the product)

So if you ever deal with TSA on a regular basis, the people that check you in at the airport, they tend to be some of the most unfriendly people I have ever met. I sometimes wonder if they were all hired from the “I Had Lemon Juice for Breakfast” club. EVERY time I am at the airport they barely make eye contact with the person, they are staring down with a light inspecting your license and ticket making check marks on various parts of the ticket. They get to mine, get my ticket, shine the little blue light on the drivers license, then they do a double take on the license picture and look up at me probably thinking it is a joke. So I mimic the big goofy smile. They generally laugh and say “I needed that,” or “This is great.” Sometimes I get an occasional, “This is the best picture ever.”

Your smile can literally change someone’s day. Look for opportunities to use it.