Another person's day made

It was one of those days where I'm in a bad mood, so of course every single passenger in my cab was in a bad mood too.

The woman I was taking to the airport seemed to be in a bad mood too. Not terribly bad, but definitely not good either. We made some half-assed attempts at conversation but nothing really clicked. But I was ready to turn my day around and thought that maybe she was too. So I didn't give up.

"Have you ever been to a non-traditional wedding?" I asked.

"I don't think so," she answered as we passed a big dead bird on the side of the freeway.

"I went to one last night. It was a big masquerade ball and circus show. Lots of elaborate costumes. Circus freaks, clowns, pirates, Victorian gowns."

"Wow. Cool."

"I think the reason I asked you is that I think you would look really good in one of those big, elaborate Victorian gowns." It's true. I really thought that.

"Oh... Really?" She smiled, and her eyes got big and blue. For the first time, I saw an actual expression on her face.

She then told me that her family had been "big into the Victorian stuff." She told me that she had seen many pictures of her great grandmother, wearing "one of those big pins" and "those big ruffles."

"Maybe one of these days for Halloween, " she said.

When she got out of the car at the airport, there was a spark in her eyes. I felt like something had just shifted for her. And something had definitely shifted for me.