I’m walking down the street; an attractive woman is walking toward me. Her face is slack, because that is what a face does when the brain is doing things like keeping the legs moving and thinking about what happens next. I would like to see her smile, because smiles light up the world. They just do.

Unlike an apparently significant percentage of my gender, however, I know that overtly asking for that smile is intrusive and will not be appreciated. I am smarter than that. I know that when the large, ugly man smiles, nods, and says, “Good afternoon,” like, you know, a reasonably polite human being, there is a good chance I will get that smile, and some kind of mumbled response.

But I also know that if the large, ugly man smiles, nods, and then reaches down into the gravel at the bottom of his throat, and slides into, “Goood afternoon,” in the manner of The Big Bopper or Tony the Tiger, he will get a grin, and maybe a giggle.

And the world will be an ever so slightly better place.

Uncle Hyena