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I need to get some things to clean the house this week-end, so I headed over to a local store. While walking around, I realized that I wasn’t ______ at anyone. That was out of character. I almost always smile at strangers with the _______ that it might brighten their day a bit. But in that particular moment, I was thinking of what had _______ me earlier in the day, not really in the mood(心情) to smile.

When I went to check out my things, I met _______ a very long line. People were buying Christmas gifts. To shorten the first line, a second register (收银台) opened up. I _______ turned to it. After a few moments, I began to _______ that all the people before me had lots of things to check out. I wasn’t ______ any longer, so I returned to the first line. After a short while, all the people in the second line checked out. I was _______ standing in the first line.

At last, it was my _______ to check out. I found that the man behind the register seemed so ______! He greeted me with a huge smile.

“It’s nice to ______ see a smiling face in this store,” I commented.

He replied, “I love to smile, _______ you never know what people are going through.” At that moment, he made me think of _______.

Something in me changed, and we began _______ kindness—about how it goes a long way. There was no one behind me, so we talked and laughed for a while. What a ______ it is, to be cheered up by this kind young man! I suddenly had all the time in the world.