My Blog

A smile….what can it do?  What is the value of a smile?  What is the power of a smile?  What is the price of a smile?  I’m not sure I know the answer to these questions.  But I know what a smile can do.  A smile can brighten up someone’s day.  Have you ever had a really bad day and just looked up or over at someone and that person gives you a full smile?  How can you not return that person’s smile or feel bad after that?  A smile can lift another person’s spirit.  For the past two months, I’ve been down and in this deep funk.  Yet, each time I see someone smile at me, I feel just that one little bit better about things.  The best smiles are those from babies and children.  They are so full of innocence and genuine.  How can I feel depressed after seeing such gummy smiles?  A smile can make you more personable and approachable.  How many times have we all been afraid to approach someone because he/she looks "mean"?  Actually, how many times have you been been out and about and see a great looking person and would love to get to know that person better, but…he/she looks too "cool" for you.  We’ve all been there. 

I didn’t understand the extend and power of a smile until this year.  I love making people smile.  I think a part of me always want to see those around me smiling or laughing.  I don’t know why.  I can’t say that it matters to me that much, especially when it comes to stranger.  Does it make me feel better once I see someone smile or made someone smile?  Hell, yeah.  I don’t think it’s consciously my goal to brighten up someone’s day. Yet, I can think of many incidents when I tried really hard to bring a smile to someone’s face or made them laugh.  I think the ones that really stands out are my efforts with the computer guys.  My first computer guy (no, I didn’t date him.  he was the computer guy at my first job; thus, my first computer guy) was George.  Mr. Taciturn/Don’t say anything unless he absolutely must.  I think I got him to smile because there was no way not to laugh at my situation at the time.  You had to be made of stone not to laugh at me killing 5 computers, including an Apple.  I’m still not sure how I did it.  But I know George and Shane (who I gave up trying to make him smile) were ready to kill me.  I practically lived at my desk during one period.  When I finally saw George smile and laugh, I actually was speechless.  I had no clue what to say to him or how to react.  It was just so…not George.  But right after, I smiled to myself because it was REALLY nice to see someone who never smiles or laughs do both.  My most recent computer guy is actually a student of mine.  He’s a database dude for Yahoo Taiwan.  The first time I taught him, I walked away thinking I’m not the right instructor for him.  Yet, he eventually requested that I teach him exclusively.  No, he was not hitting on me and anything dirty.  In many ways, he was your typical computer guy.  But once he became comfortable around me, he really loosened up.  I remembered the first time he joked with me.  I totally didn’t get it.  However, he was laughing.  Again, shock just ran through my body.  I don’t think I ever got the hang of this guy’s sense of humor.  But I did enjoy teaching him and joking with him.  Maybe, making these guys laugh and smile is my way of reaffirming that I have the ability to make someone smile.  Again, I don’t know why this matters to me.

On the flip side, a smile has made me do things that I didn’t think I’d do.  Earlier this year, I was thrown by a beautiful smile from a guy.  He wasn’t smiling at me the first time I noticed his smile.  But I do remember thinking what a beautiful smile.  Later on, we sat directly across from each other and he did smile at me.  I pulled a girly thing…I was a little shy and intimidated by the fact that this guy was smiling at me.  Anyhow, this guy’s smile made me do things that I never did before and have emotions that I haven’t had in a long time.  I don’t know if I’ll ever see this guy again.  I’d like to think that fate/destiny will be generous with me.  However, I’m realistic that life is never the way we want it.  Whatever happens, I’ll always be glad that we met after we exchanged smiles.  A smile can change a person’s life in small ways and big ways.

So, my oldest brother just send me a L.A. Times sports article link.  He didn’t send me the link for me to read but to find out if the Tommy quoted in the article was the same one I knew.  He was.  After seeing the title of the article, I had to find out what the hoopla was about.  I won’t rehash the article; but I couldn’t agree with everything Tommy Hawkins said even more.  Having been a Dodger fan since my early elementary years, I have to say that I stopped being loyal and attended their games sporadically a year after News Corp took over.  The last several years have been even worse.  I can’t remember the last time I went to a Dodgers game.  Getting tickets was never an issue as I have access to the comp tickets.  Mainly, I didn’t know who was on the team anymore and didn’t care.  The front office was trading and signing players that weren’t homegrown.  Sure, they wanted to build a winning team.  But does throwing money mean you’ll get a championship team?  My biggest issue with the Dodgers organization and I talked to Tommy Hawkins about this was the lack of camaraderie and respect to history of the new owners.  I’m a little bias towards the O’Malleys because I worked there before the sale.  All I’ll say is, they knew how to be a good sports team owner and manager.  Tommy is right.  After the McCourts bought the Dodgers I thought maybe they will bring order back to the organization.  I think partly Fox couldn’t get its act together because it didn’t care.  I won’t get into the specific of why Rupert Murdoch bought the Dodgers.  What I do know is, Fox Group did a lot of damage during its short tenure as the owner.  Now, the organization seems in more disarray than ever.  I don’t profess to be an expert in sports, especially in the last 6 years.  But Tommy wasn’t ripping the Dodgers.  He was just stating something that everyone who have ever worked there or been part of the organization knows.  It’s a mess there.  I’ve gone from being able to name all the players and even some of the Triple-A players to not knowing who is currently on the team.  Hell, I don’t even know where the Dodgers minor league affiliation teams are anymore.  I want to believe that the Dodgers can win another championship.  But I honestly don’t know if it’ll happen.

Last night, I continued to read Mitch Albom’s "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."      I never finished his other book, "Tuesday with Morrie."  I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually.  While reading the book, it hit me:  This guy is a sportswriter!  Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against sportswriters.  If anything, I admire them a lot.  Why? They have tenacity.  I mean how many people do you know would be willing to sacrifice everything and anything to for very little pay and glory.  Oh, I’m sure there are plenty of jobs out there that fit this description.  But seriously, talk to any sportswriter and you’ll realize these guys (most of them are men) hardcore.  They do what they do for the love of it.  However, I know that most also have to moonlight in other areas to survive.  Obviously, the most frequent side project is writing.  I know when I was working in the media office at the Dodgers, several of the guys did writing for other magazines on the side.  I think a few tried their hands on writing a book.  Don’t know if any ever panned out.  Then again the sports books industry isn’t that lucrative in comparison to others. 

The other thing that got me thinking was, what can you do once your career as a sportswriter is over?  If you’re lucky, you get a following like Frank Deford or that O’Reilly guy from SI.  Or better yet, you become an analyst/broadcaster.  Or if you’re truly likely, you end up where Fred Claire was for 30 years.  I’ve never done a search before, but I’m sure Fred is the only if not one of the few sportswriters who eventually became a general manager/EVP of a sports team.  I know from my conversations with him that he never thought he’d end up there.  Again, the uniqueness of the Dodgers family culture back in the old days had a lot to say for it.  Peter O’Malley saw something in Fred and gave him a chance.  Even though Fred got fired by Fox Group, I have to say that his experience definitely gives these poor guys hope that something like that may happen for them.  If nothing else, sportswriters can always fall back on what they do best…being a writer.

I can’t believe I actually created a blog and am writing on here.  I don’t really have anything against blogs, but I just never thought I’d be a blogger.  However, I saw something today that was so beautiful and touching that I really wanted to share with as many people as I can.  I was actually dying to tell it to someone.  But there aren’t too many people who’d understand why the sight/view was so beautiful.  I finally couldn’t keep it in anymore and told my class.  Of course, I think they thought I was crazy or some sort of freak.  Sometimes, I think I need to curb my enthusiasm, especially when I’m teaching.  Seriously, my students have hard enough of a time grasping English and American culture as it is.  They don’t need me to mess it up with silly things that are abstract.

Ok, so what was it that made me almost burst out in tears?  Call me sentimental.  Call me maternal, even though I don’t think I am.  Whatever the reason (maybe the family bonding this past weekend played a big part), I almost cried when I saw a white American couple looking at their new Taiwanese daughter.  I can’t really describe what I saw.  Actually, I don’t think any words can fully paint the scene I saw.  The little girl was somewhere between 6 months to one year.  She was a bit small but had a head full of hair.  Her two hands tightly grasped two teething crackers.  I didn’t get a good look of her face.  But from what I can see of her profile, you can tell she was an adorable and pretty baby.  Her outfit was one of those really cute baby girl dresses.  The little girl had her head on her new mother’s left shoulder the entire time.  I think she was sleeping or else just really tired.  I never once saw her lift her head.  The American couple had another friend/relative/someone with them.  Personally, I think she was the sister because she was as happy and in awed as the couple who just got their baby.  All three have this I-can’t-believe-it smile on their face.  I couldn’t see the mother’s face.  But from her body language, I can tell she was loving the weight of this new baby on her.  The woman was actually quite petite.  However, you can tell she was not going to let anyone take her new child from her even if she was exhausted from carrying her.  The father just couldn’t get over what he was seeing.  He couldn’t take his eyes off the little girl.  He kept gently touch different parts of the baby or her clothing to make sure that thing in his wife’s arm was real.  I got the feeling that he desperately want to hold the girl.  It was really amazing and overwhelming to watch all of this unfold in front of my eyes and all in the span of 10 minutes.  It’s strange, but I never thought I’d ever see something like this take place.  For me, the most amazing thing is that it felt like I was watching all of this through a screen and that I wasn’t actually experiencing it.

I don’t know if any of my assumptions about what I saw today was real or true.  But I am almost positive what I saw was an American couple adopting a Taiwanese little baby girl.  The couple appeared older than your average new parents (my guess is that they were over 40).  From their reactions, it almost seems as if they’ve gone through a lot to get to where they were today.  Seeing the family together for the first time, I realized that if I had enough guts, I’d have gone up to them and tell them congratulations on being new parents.  I’d also be so happy for the little girl.  Now, she has an opportunity to have a better life.  Maybe, she’d have a good life here in Taiwan one way or the other.  However, I have no doubt that couple and the other woman will give this little girl all the love they can.  She will have an opportunity to be in a loving home and family.  Seeing this little scene also made me realize that color and blood do not determine a family.  Love is what matters.