Bringing Smiles Back!

Observing Others

Last spring I had a booth in a B2B trade show in Davis County. The marketing phrase I used was "Bringing Smiles Back".

The word "back" seems to indicate the smiles went somewhere. Maybe the smiles had just been hiding behind masks for two years. Maybe they disappeared because of inflation, a divisive election, an evil war, mass shootings, or a housing crisis.

These would all be very good reasons--reasons not to smile.

But what if I told you my booth was a glimpse of and a blast from my past?

When I was seven, my father, Dr K, took me to the Salt Palace to see a booth he had set up. I had no idea what I was about to experience. When I turned the corner and saw his booth it took my breath away. There in all its glory and grandeur was a booth filled with objects as in pillows, a shower curtain, a huge area rug, a bedroom trash can, desk items and signage filled with little yellow smiley faces. Yellow smiles everywhere!

His booth was twice the size of mine. Complete with a couch, a chair, and a lamp with a shade and, you guessed it, smiley faces on the lamp shade!

So, I decided to bring his smile back. He is 84 now. He doesn't remember much but when I paid him a visit and showed him my pics, he did, in fact, smile. A big cheesy grin!

His experiment back then, as a social psychologist, in the 70's, was to see how many people actually smiled when they saw his booth. It had such an impact on me I would never forget it and some 40 years later I decided to bring it back.

So I found what I could, customized what I couldn't and brought smiles back!

Including two big yellow balls.

Later these two yellow balls ended up hanging out in my friend Alex’s hospital room.

They made the journey with me to visit my friend because the only reason they are smiling is because my good friend put those smiles on their faces.

That's right, he printed the vinyl and slapped them on these mammoth inflated balls.

They joined me because that same friend recently suffered a massive stroke.

The doctor told me today that this type of stroke is the most deadly.

My friend is fortunate to have survived.

So I brought my two smiley friends to bring some smiles back to my friend and his family.

Two yellow smile balls to his hospital room to cheer him up and cheer him on.

A few months later I was burnt in a propane tank explosion and fire.

Wouldn’t you know, one of the yellow smile balls Alex and I made showed up in my hospital room.

Now, as Alex and I recover, we are making yellow smile balls for others to cheer them on and cheer them up!

We are two of the fortunate ones.

We have a second chance.

A new lease on life.

There is so much to smile about!