The Six Years I Worked at the Courthouse, I Never Saw Him Frown

I admired him, and I wished I had his gift

I sat at my spot at the largest Criminal Court Complex in Pinellas County Florida. The last two hours of the midnight shift, I had to sit by the public exit.

My job was to watch the exit door. I had to keep employees from leaving out the door before I unlocked it, and turned off the alarms at 7:30. I also had to stop people from entering through the exit.

I never saw him with a frown

Once I unlocked the doors, I sat and watched people enter the courthouse. There was an attorney who fascinated me. In all the years I worked there, I seldom saw him without a smile on his face.

What I found interesting was, he made eye contact and said hello to everyone he passed by. He even smiled and said hello, or good morning to the chubby half-asleep security guard at the public exit.

Was he always that friendly, or did he train himself in Law School?

I often wondered, was he always so friendly? or did he train himself to be that engaging? What made the man so interesting, I’m so not like that.

The Wallace side of the family is notorious for the “ Mean Face.” I have had total strangers walk up to me and ask me why I was so angry.

I’m a nice guy, really, I am

I’m not angry all the time I’m pretty mellow, but when I lose my temper, I lose my temper in a big way I stay mellow as much as possible.

I watched the Smiling Attorney walk into the courthouse every morning. I would ask myself how different my life would have been if I would have cultivated my smile.

I have said it before, and I will say it again, how you talk to yourself matters

People say I’m pretty cool, once I let them in, and they get to know me. I’m 62, and I’m a lot friendlier than I was when I was in my teens through my thirties.

I have many regrets, but one of the big ones is that I let my self-esteem get so low that it interfered with my life. I’m not the fat, brain-damaged slug I grew up believing that I was.

I made up for lost time

It’s too bad I didn’t figure this out until my forties and fifties. That’s one of the main reasons why I stayed single until my late fifties. I made up for the lost time as best as I could, but I missed out on a lot of fun.

It’s hard to have a social life when you seldom smile or talk to people. I’m in my sixties, and I’m where I should have been forty years ago.

I have my regrets, but I have a wife who loves me as much as I love her. I was the last one at the party, but I’m having the best time.

Final thought:

Don’t believe the lies you have been telling yourself. Smile, talk to people, get out of your house because life is too short.