Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Breakfast - Sunny Side Up!

Zboy and I decided to have breakfast at Shoney's yesterday. Gotta love this holiday season - I don't seem to do a lot of cooking because it seems like such a bother to me and everyone else.

So when he suggested an early morning meal out, I took the suggestion and ran with it. We bundled ourselves up and headed over there for some hot chocolate and breakfast buffet. Z was thrilled when we got the same waitress we had last time - she has such a sunny personality and a beautiful smile. You feel good just being in the same room with her. She came over to take our order and he smiled real big and said, "I'm so glad you're our waitress today - I just love you!" She beamed back at him and said, "You just made my day!" They then proceeded to try and out-sunny each other. I think it was a tie.

A couple of booths away sat a rather scraggly-looking man. He huddled over his cup of coffee and yawned as he tried to keep his eyes open. His dark hair kept falling over his dark eyes, giving him a somewhat sinister look. ZBoy kept looking at him warily over the edge of his cocoa cup, and finally told me, "Mom, that man scares me. He looks mad."

Cocoa boy


I glanced back at him over my shoulder, taking in the hair, the coffee, the look on his face - and the crutches and the one leg under the table. I turned back to Zboy and said, "I don't think he's mad, honey. I think he's kind of sad and maybe lonely. Not everyone has happy holiday times. And I think he might be one of those people." ZBoy studied him a little longer and watched as our waitress left his check and spoke cheerily to him. The guy's face softened a bit. He picked up his check and his crutches and made his way almost jauntily to the cash register. I looked back at ZBoy, whose mouth was agape. He'd never seen someone with one leg before. "Mom! He's only got one leg! No wonder he's not happy! But did you see him when LaTonya talked to him? He actually looked nice."

And that, my son, is the magic of being a sunny person. Even the unhappiest person can't help but be touched by a truly happy person. Our waitress was sunshine personified.

Boy and LaTonya


We pulled out the pack of post-its I had in my purse and Z drew her a picture. I then stuck it to a $10 bill. I'm not as sunny as LaTonya - but I can spread my own kind of cheer from time to time!

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IMG_3226


If we weren't in Florida, I'd think we were in for snow with those clouds!

9 comments:

Sandy said...

Thank you for being my sunny person this morning. Great pic of ZBoy and great post!

Anonymous said...

ZBoy rocks!!!

nikki

karisma said...

What a great post! You sure made me smile :')

I have had many similar conversations with my kids. Its amazing to see the expressions on peoples faces when you smile at them. A lot of people walk around trying not to look at anyone else with grumpy faces. One smile can mean the world of difference to someone who is having a bad day.

Jeff said...

Great story for this time of year.

That girl said...

You must've lived in Florida for too long...those clouds look nothing like the yucky snow clouds I see out my window.

In fact, I could use some LaToya cheer right about now too :-)

PS - just changed the display name on my blog, it's still me (michelle)

That girl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenny, the Bloggess said...

You made me all sniffly.

I love zboy. And La Tonya.

Merry Christmas, my friend.

Nona said...

Nice story. You are such a good mummy and your kid is just the sweetest!!! Love the photos. You are right of course. We often forget that meeting the world with a warm open heart is a very healing thing.

Kuin said...

lol i should take a pic from here for you ..
we got record snowfall here last week ...37 centimeters in just one day!!!

the moutains of snow are huge !!!!