ANDRE BEGIN

Throughout the pandemic, there were times that I actually thought that wearing a mask did come in handy, beyond its primary purpose.

Even though I like to think of myself as a guy with some degree of class and decorum and that I generally uphold the principles of mutual respect and civility, there were times that some people did stretch the boundaries of my patience from here into the next province.

With a mask on my face, when someone pushed my buttons, I felt quite comfortable mouthing the words to a few choice expletives, knowing that my displeasure would not have become public knowledge, but still giving me the satisfaction of having said my peace, even if it was inaudibly.

Also, when people didn’t follow the one-way arrows in the grocery store, I could stick out my tongue at them without them knowing. I just needed to remember to hold back on the eyeball rolling.

No conflict.

No harm done.

Win-win!

But where I thought it created a genuine challenge was when conducting in-person transactions.

On those occasions, I tend to smile… a lot. It’s part of my language.

To me, it is my way of establishing connection with the person helping me out, acknowledging their presence, their effort and their hard work, especially under challenging circumstances.

To a certain extent, I could do that with just my eyes. Nonetheless, I find that when combining the eyes, the smile and overall body language, it offers a more complete picture of visual cues.

Personally, I find it difficult to get those visual cues when relying only on the eyes, especially when people are busy, looking at their phones, their computer screens, or just multi-tasking and looking in a different direction.

That being the case, you can imagine my relief when the worst of the masking days were behind us, and I could finally smile in public again, people could see it, and I could see their reciprocation.

Upon realizing that with a visible smile I could establish a rapport faster and easier, just further compounded to my joy and made me smile even more to the point that I’m sure some must be wondering if something was wrong with me.

Was I overcompensating?

No… I’m just a happy, expressive guy trying to spread good cheer! … My apologies if your gagging reflex is kicking in right now.

Nonetheless, these days, when many businesses are short staffed and employees are doing their very best given the current circumstances, the genuine smile I can offer them in acknowledgment for their efforts is such a small price to pay (along with patience and understanding when “life” happens.)

That whole period when we were wearing masks was challenging for everyone. Even though we might be able to hear the smile in the voice, it wasn’t quite the same.

To not see everyone’s smile created a boundary in interpersonal communications… At least I thought so.

But now with the ability to show my pearly whites (and the investment my mother made in orthodontic work), I like to think that the simple gesture of a smile can be the expression of kindness, gratitude, and encouragement toward the individuals doing their best to keep the service industry alive and thriving.

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Sincere thanks for reading!
Have a great day,
André