When you are sorely tempted to stay in for lunch on a work day because your supervisor or boss is breathing down your neck and has gotten in the bad habit of calling your personal cell phone number instead of the office phone, remember to take a moment out of your day to:

Get something to eat. I've had to remind people that I'm not a robot and don't run on just coffee/tea.
Stop grinding your teeth. You're the one that pays for your dental coverage not the manic master delegator that needs a boot up his or her backside.
Breathe. You've probably been biting your tongue for the last few hours trying to ignore the latest bit of rubbish to come out of your superior's mouth but failed because, well, someone had to be honest with them, right?

I was having a particularly bad day at my day job earlier in the week and decided to visit my local Japanese place just across the road for my lunch break - perfect for people watching and practising my non-existent chopstick skills.

No cheapy sushi rolls for me that day! I went for a full bento box and it was stupendous. Just what I needed to forget the hole that was work. A lovely mix of tempura veggies, warm fluffy rice topped with some tender stir fried beef, a few pieces of sushi, and some teriyaki chicken. Heaven. The Japanese sure know how to do comfort food.

I had managed to find one of the only remaining seats in the restaurant and it was, unfortunately, right up against another table and partially blocked off an easy exit for anyone who happened to be sitting at the window seats. I felt sorry for the lady that was currently sitting at the table but I made a point to move over as far as I could and apologised once she had indicated she needed to get out of there.

Just as I was tucking into a lovely bite of teriyaki chicken, I heard a tapping at the window in front of me and realised it was the same lady trying to get my attention. She smiled gently and waved. Surprised, and somewhat delighted, I waved back. Not sure why she did that but it brightened up the rest of my day even though work itself didn't improve and my boss decided to lose all sense of reason and courtesy.

As I am somewhat of an introvert, I normally do find it difficult to strike up conversations with strangers and offer random smiles (unless you happen to be a child, a puppy, a kitten, or Hugh Jackman). But I would like to offer a thank you to the kind lady that smiled at me for no real reason as I can now look back on that rather awful Monday and remember it wasn't so bad after all.

So I suppose the lesson is that a day job is simply what it is, and not your raison d'etre, and to offer a kindly smile to someone that may be needing it (makes me think I must have looked absolutely miserable and like death...hah!).