The Smile Test

It’s been a week now and I’m still thinking about Mel.

Last Wednesday night, seven of us went to a jazz club in The Big City. We had a great time, ate tasty Greek food (including Rob who said the Mediterranean herb-infused hamburger was pretty good), and enjoyed the music and the eclectic collection of people sharing the experience with us. Although the music was fun and impressively delivered, what I still find myself thinking about is Mel the Drummer.

Mel is probably in his 60s. A slightly smaller-than-average guy, Mel was a hip cat in his brown dress slack, tan cashmere mock turtleneck, tweed suit jacket, and a couple of modest gold rings. But when I think of Mel, I think of his smile. Man o man, that guy could not stop smiling the entire time he was on stage. And it wasn’t a fake, performance smile. It was a smile of pure joy. It was a smile that made it clear he has found his passion and still can’t believe he gets paid to follow it. His full on Happy was only rivaled by that of the piano player. The two of them just beamed and beamed. All seven of us noticed and were in awe of what these two guys have found.

As I feel on the verge of beginning the next chapter in “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I now have a measuring stick, a tangible test to put each new idea to. “If I’m an X, will I smile like Mel while I’m doing it?” I still have a while before I can put anything to a real test (disability hearing with a Big Government Agency scheduled for early March), but Mel is my inspiration to dig deep and figure out what will make me beam, too.