Non-avoidance

Normally when I go for a walk at the beach, I avoid the area right where our street plops us on the boardwalk due to the ridiculous amount of guys there trying to hand out their music CD's or make you listen to their music. I don't have anything against self promotion (Lord knows I am horrible at it) but when you pass the same guys every day and every day they want you to listen to their music and take one of their CD's, it gets old. It's not a big deal to avoid them, but today, I have a cold, I feel like crap, I am in a daze and I missed the turn off that bypasses these "music" guys. I didn't realize it until I saw one of them shoving a pair of headphones on a poor unsuspecting and very pale tourist. I had my IPod on so I figured I was safe, but I was approached by an older guy who offered me his CD. I made sure I smiled as I quietly declined and instead of hassling me, he told me to have a great day and that I had a beautiful smile. Not that I thought he would hassle me because he had a very kind demeanor to him unlike the usual crowd, but that wasn't really the point. Today, feeling as crappy as I did, I really needed a total stranger to tell me I had a beautiful smile. It was as if something had steered me away from avoiding the "music" men just so someone could make my day. Sometimes being in a daze isn't a bad thing.