The cute biker-guy

How many of you have smiles on your faces at 6:30 AM? 7 AM? 7:30 AM? One of the fun things that I do in the mornings while on the street is greet each person I pass with a smile and "Good Morning". Most of them respond in kind even if they don't feel like it. Occasionally I encounter a grump who refuses to acknowledge my cheerfulness and just plain ignores me. In a perverse way I just consider them to be a challenge because chances are we will meet again another morning.

This morning the table was turned when a total stranger put a smile on my face. I was waiting for a truck to pull out of a parking stall at a convenience store so I could pick up a penny, then another one a few feet away. I didn't see the guy on the bullet bike who was parked and fiddling around with his flame-bedecked helmet. After pocketing the two coins I noticed him looking at me with a funny expression. Then he spoke. "Do you need some change?" Totally caught off guard, I chuckled a "No thank you" and went on my way. He was still there a few minutes later as I was heading back so I stopped to show him all the coins in my pocket while explaining my "hobby" and to thank him for caring about a stranger. Walking away I found another penny and gave it to him, explaining that it must be his Lucky Penny. He said that he would keep it forever, depositing it in a little cubby on his bike. We were both smiling as he put his helmet on and zoomed away.

$1.31 (or $1.32 counting the Lucky Penny)