You're just what I needed...

Started out in a bad mood today. Not really sure why, but then things just kept happening to perpetuate it. Sometimes people at work drive me nuts. Sometimes they ask me to do things that they themselves are perfectly capable of doing. Today both of those things were happening.

The bad part about all of this? I let it take control. I let my bad mood have its way with me for a little while, and that resulted in me replying very harshly to an email from The BFF. Under 'normal' circumstances, I never would have been so curt, short, and just down-right mean to her. And under NO circumstances is it okay. I replied to her, then went to a two-hour meeting that just succeeded in sending my bad day over the edge. When I came back to my desk and re-read my sent mail, I felt horrible. And I apologized.

But still, apologizing doesn't make someone immediately feel cleansed of the wrong-doing they did. (At least me, anyway...) So I was already having a bad day because of other people, and then added on top of that the bad day I had created for myself, and I was a mess.

So I went to lunch. I decided to go out somewhere and try a manual attitude adjustment as it were. I thought, I'll go out, I'll get out of this toxic office, I'll re-group, and I'll be good to go.

And, I'm not a religious person. I don't believe in God per se. I have a hard time convincing myself that we're all just puppets and that there's some big man in the sky who has planned our whole lives out for us. But, what happened next, I might just be able to chalk it up to a little divine intervention. Or a nice little coincidence, but tomayto, tomahto.

I sat down at a booth in the restaurant (Chick-fil-A, if you're curious), and there were two gentlemen in the booth directly next to me. The man with his back to me was probably in his early 40's, and the man facing me, in his late 20's, early 30's. I could tell that the younger gentleman was mentally challenged in some way, but I can't tell you exactly what it was. Anyway, they carried on a conversation and ate lunch together. The younger guy seemed very happy to be out and about, and just happy and genial in general.

When they finished, the younger gentleman passed my booth to throw away his trash. He stopped, turned to me, and said, "Have a nice day. I just think you are very pretty."

And that, right there, was the attitude adjustment I needed.

I know that it is sometimes uncomfortable to 'normal' people when special needs people say things that we normally wouldn't, but to me, that is one of their best qualities. To not be concerned about being embarrassed by what they say - to tell a complete stranger in a crowded restaurant that she is pretty - wouldn't the world be a better place if we all did that every once in a while?

You never know how you can change someone's day - even the smallest, inconsequential things - it just might be the attitude adjustment they needed.