桂建友

When my mother was alive， she used to preach to① me again and again about the value of just being nice.

“Never underestimate② the power of a smile，” she would say.

I fear she would be very disappointed looking at the world today.

I was on the phone the other day with a computer help desk. Firstly a man， then later a woman， who couldnt have been rude. And this was to a customer， who didnt know his way around a PC. The woman， in fact， seemed to be chewing the gum③ as she unemotionally clicked off a series of commands for me to perform④.

The next day I heard from a friend of mine who got a performance review without his boss looking up at him. Not once.

You see it everywhere.

Gone are the days when people cared about you. Its a sign of the times， I suspect. Many people are in many jobs they do not like. Theyre not happy. And people who arent happy arent wishing to make you happy.

And it spreads out like a cancer. Someones rude to you. Youre rude to them and to the next fellow you meet， and on and on， until we become a nation of un-smiling， annoying， worrying persons. Smiles are contagious⑤ but so are scowls⑥.

You know， my mom used to judge presidential candidates⑦ by how they smiled and if she liked them personally. I would say， “But Mom， you dont know if that smile is real！”

“Oh， yes I do，” she would tell me. “I can feel it.”

Its in their eyes， she would say. And its in their smile. The rest just kind of falls into place.

母親在世時，曾一次次對我說教與人為善的重要。

“不要低估微笑的力量。”她經常這樣說。

觀看當今世界，恐怕她會很失望的。

有一天，我打電話到一家電腦公司的咨詢部，起先是位男士接聽的，隨后是位女士，他們簡直無禮之極，沖我這個不熟悉電腦的顧客撒氣。實際上聽得出，那位女士一邊嚼著口香糖，一邊面無表情地噼里啪啦地給我扔過來一堆指令讓我自己去查。

又一天，我聽一個朋友說，他的上司在給他做業(yè)績評估時居然沒抬頭看他一眼，一次也沒有。

瞧，冷漠無處不在！

熱情洋溢的時代消失了。冷漠成了時代特征。我想這深層原因乃是許多人在從事著他們不喜歡的職業(yè)，他們自己就不開心，而自己不開心的人別指望他讓別人開心。

冷漠會像癌癥一樣擴散。別人對你粗魯，你回敬別人粗魯，如此循環(huán)往復，直至形成一個沒有笑意只有憤懣的國度。笑容是有感染力的，板著臉也同樣如此。

我母親過去評價總統(tǒng)侯選人時，總是看他們笑得如何，是否令她喜歡。我常反詰：“媽，可您不知道那笑是真是假呀！”

她總是如此回答：“我知道，憑感覺?！?/p>

母親常常說，真誠在眼睛里，真誠在微笑里。其余的倒容易明白了。