An Eight-Dollar Box of Smiles

By: Onika Nkrumah

Lunchtime in the capital of Port of Spain is booming business.  Numerous restaurants, cafes and fast food outlets vie for the attention of hungry workers.  The food quality at most of these establishments is variable.  Sometimes good, sometimes bad.  When my taste buds become immune to the offerings at one outlet, I quickly move on to the next spot. 

That’s how I discovered the white and red van parked on Henry Street.  Squashed next to the sidewalk between the Rosary church and First Citizens Bank is a food shop on wheels called ‘Mack’s Mobile Wok’. The menu is rather limited, the food - sold in eight, ten and twelve dollar portions - is average and there are no dining conveniences.   But, there is always a long line of people waiting for lunch.  The first time I purchased food there, I found out why - It’s because lunch is an eight- dollar box of smiles! 

Each day a ‘red’ lady in a white hat and apron attends to her customers wearing a super-size smile - welcoming each into her warm presence for a brief moment.  I do not know her name, but she seems to come from a town called ‘Perfect’, always impeccably dressed, as if her next stop were a photo shoot.

The first time I encountered her I must admit that I was a wee bit irritated.  I mean who smiles that much?  There is absolutely no reason why anyone should be so happy.  She probably had some really good news today, I reasoned, trying to quell the rising annoyance that her high-pitched voice was provoking in me.

As Trinidadians we have become so accustomed to poor customer service and crappy sales people that we’ve even come to expect it.  I was certain that her big smile and friendly game was all an act, a part of some sales gimmick that she’d cooked up with the chef.  As I walked off, I decided to return the next day – maybe she wouldn’t be feeling so great then. 

The next day I was greeted in the same high-pitched well-spoken manner.  “Hello, what are you having today”, she smiled.  By now my feeling of irritation was cart-wheeling into a feeling of nausea.  This lady’s perkiness was making me sick.  The feeling was accompanied by embarrassment.  What was wrong with me, why was this lady’s upbeat attitude annoying me?  I had to confront the pessimist within, had life’s ups and downs quietly transformed me into a cynic – always speculating about motives and imagining the worse?

After repeated visits to the white van, it finally dawned on me – this was no act, nobody, not even Angela Bassett could act so well.  It may be that come hell or high water, this woman managed her balancing act on top of the world on a consistent basis, keeping whatever problems she may have to herself. 

Oh melancholy me! I had actually happened across one of those rare ‘sanguine’ personalities that I’d read about.  One of those bubbly people that could find something good in just about any situation. 

Well it’s certainly true what they say, “smile and the whole world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone”.  Now, even though the menu may be extremely limited and the lines long, I always return and wait patiently in line, for a healthy serving of an eight- dollar box of smiles!