Smiles In The City...

Is it possible to be alone in a city of millions? I’ve been pondering the opinions of many columns and men that I know, and I’m sure the same applies in reverse – that we live in a very unapproachable city. So… I’ve dedicated every opportunity to testing that theory for myself.  After a meeting on the Waterfront, despite the windchill the sun was shining, and I decided to walk straight up York Street with a smile on my face.  A surreal thing happened… despite the smile on my face and great mood I was in… it seemed as though I was walking empty streets. NO ONE, man or woman, even looked at me. I actually laughed for half of the way back, no matter how hard I tried, I made eye contact with one woman, nodded my head hello and smiled, she quickly turned away.  The only man who’s attention I caught seemed more interested in the Kors on my feet then the smile on my face. LOL. I could have been the President and no one would have noticed. The walks to and from work are never this way. It seems people are afraid to make eye contact. A survey at work suggested, people are afraid someone will want to talk. Hmm…

Samantha and I set out to do some leg work on the smile project in a more social setting.  What better night than a Thursday in the City… oddly the first person we met called it “Suit Night”.  We knew we had picked the right night for our project. Turns out he was also the President of an organization that specializes in where to go and what to do in the city.  Unlike the day time experience, our evening flowed seamlessly from one person to the next smiling and making eye contact. We met Mr. Virginia the CEO of a software firm, and were enlightened by his take on our city. Shocking… he suggested the same. He rode an elevator 47 floors in silence… Yet our first stop was thriving with people looking for connection.

We later found ourselves engaged in conversation with 2 men from Vancouver, and one from Montreal. A smile, a joke, and a great conversation was started. We were in our flow… and then we wondered – why after meeting 8 different men had we only met people who had moved into the city…  Side note, Mike from Montreal suggested he had a friend that would be a great match for Samantha. Pretty cool… a potential date that didn’t originate online… stay tuned J

We left and walked down King Street West smiling and laughing. On a whim when 3 men smiled back at us, we asked where they were from – at last, one was born and raised in Toronto. We walked down the street a few steps ahead, and got a very weak invitation to join them at a pub, we thanked them but had our heads on dinner at a local spot we call “Cheers”.

Cheers was hopping. Greeted by the managers, we found a prime table where we could watch the action close to the door and at the bar. A great destination for singles in the city, the place is always packed with the most eligible and some of the best looking people in the city (subjective of course). We watched the song and dance between a group of men and a group of women standing by the bar. We made eye contact and the across the room flirting began. After dinner and some random reunions with old friends, we headed back to a hopping spot down the street.

We ended our night at Weslodge. Jampacked and overflowing into the street. Now 3 women, the server whom we’d met at another venue a few months back encouraged us to sit with a table she had been serving, 3 men.  Conversation was light and fun, turns out they were professional football players. Again… not from the city, but fun and open nonetheless. 

And so, I still feel resistant to draw a conclusion. But I do feel inspired to continue to open the city one smile at a time, and hey, we met some really great people in the meantime  J

Get out there and try it! Don’t be the unapproachable one, and have some fun with it!!!  What a great night.

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