One Smile Can Change a Community

 

This past week, while sitting at what has become my "office"—the two park benches outside Metro Grocers on Somerled—I met a wonderful gentleman named Younes from Morocco.

As we talked, he shared stories of traveling throughout the world. Then he made an observation that gave me pause.

He told me that, in his experience, the people of Montreal seem less friendly than those in many other places he has visited. He asked me why that might be.

I thought about his question for a moment.

The truth is, I don't really care why.

I'd much rather help change it.

Every great transformation begins with one small action. Before communities build great parks, solve difficult problems, or launch inspiring initiatives, they are built one relationship at a time. One conversation. One act of kindness. One smile.

Imagine if every person in NDG made one simple commitment.

Whenever we passed another person on the sidewalk, we smiled.

Whenever we entered a store, we greeted the staff.

Whenever we sat on a park bench, we looked up from our phones and said, "Hello."

No agenda. No expectation. Just a genuine acknowledgement that another human being matters.

A smile costs nothing, yet it can brighten someone's entire day. A friendly greeting may be the only kindness someone receives. A brief conversation can become the beginning of a friendship.

I've seen it happen countless times from my little "office" on Somerled.

Complete strangers have become friends.

People who looked lonely have left smiling.

Stories have been shared.

Ideas have been born.

Hope has quietly appeared where, moments before, there was only silence.

This is exactly the kind of neighbourhood I believe NDG can become—not because of government programs or grand speeches, but because ordinary people choose to be just a little kinder than yesterday.

Perhaps we don't need to ask why people seem less friendly.

Perhaps we simply need to become the reason they remember Montreal as one of the friendliest places they have ever visited.

So today, I have a small challenge for everyone.

Smile at five strangers.

Say "Good morning."

Wish someone a wonderful day.

Hold a door open.

Introduce yourself to someone you've seen for years but never met.

Those tiny moments have an amazing way of multiplying.

Who knows?

If enough of us decide to do this, perhaps one day someone from the other side of the world will sit on those same benches outside Metro Grocers and say,

"I've travelled everywhere... and I've never met friendlier people than the people of NDG."

Now that would be something worth building together.

— Ross Harvey
A NuVo World