What a Smile Can Do.

Tracey was just going on with her life as usual. One hot Friday she felt the urge to relive her childhood experience of dipping some fries into a frosty. So she asks her husband to drive her to Wendy's, one of her favorite places to eat when she was a child. On arrival at Wendy’s, their order is taken by this very joyful man with a wide smile and quite some positive energy. The guy was so full of life and entertaining that it prompted Tracey to pull out her phone and record him. He obliged. On reaching home, she uploaded the video on her Facebook profile. It got quite a number of views and several comments. People did love this man and his energy. However, nothing more happened beyond that until a few months later when thoughts of him revisited Tracey’s mind. She took the same video and uploaded it on Tiktok. What followed was quite a story.

The video was viewed by so so many people. Many of them shared it with their friends. Some comments were made by people appreciating the guy for his positivity, something that is really needed in this present time. This was actually happening amidst one of the greatest pandemics of this present generation. He had brought so much joy to so many people. In the comments, several people talked of doing a Venmo Challenge(a Tiktok challenge where people would raise some money from their followers and surprise a deserving waiter or waitress with a hefty tip). “This guy deserves something back from us for making us smile.” They said. Tracey accepted the call and started a Venmo challenge.

The challenge went so well. So many people accepted it and started to give. Her goal was to raise $1000 by the end of the set days. As people were raising the surprise money, Tracey did go back to Wendy's a few more times just to meet with the guy. She learnt his name.

In five days, Tracey had surpassed her initial goal of $1,000. This was very unexpected. She had raised some $15,000 and counting.

All Tracey had to do now was find a way to meet with Eric and present the tip as a surprise. She had already told him how people were excited to hear his story and how he managed to be so happy all the time, making so many other people quite as happy. She asked him whether he was available for an interview. That would be the excuse she'd use to meet Eric out of work schedule. He did agree and so they scheduled for the interview.

On the day of the scheduled interview, Tracey’s house was hosting the unexpected. Wendy’s COO had got wind of the surprise tip and requested to be a part of the party. Him and several other chosen were waiting for Eric who was brought in by Wendy’s husband for the surprise gift. It was a great gathering. The reaction of Eric was priceless. I don’t know how your reaction would have been to such a surprise. All in all, people had managed to raise slightly over $40,000. Yes! Forty thousand dollars.

That’s the power of a smile.

Be happy and share your happiness with others. Send them this story. 

“Never dim your light out of fear of shinning too bright! We could use more light in this world.” -Tracey Ferrin-