The Happy Man

On my way to work some days there is this man, he looks to be in his mid fifties, he's fat and has gray hair. He wears an all red sweat suit, he doesn't have a beard but I think of Santa Claus every time I see him. He stands in the median of the main street out of our small town and waves to the hundreds of cars that pass within 10' of him. Obviously there is something wrong with him, I mean what kind of person stands in rain or cold in traffic and waves at strangers for no reason? Of course I wave back at him but after I pass I always start to wonder who he is and does his family know where he is? How could they let him embarrass himself like that?



The thing that bothers me the most is that he looks so damn happy. Not a care in the world, he doesn't care what people think, if they wave back or anything. It seems to me the people who should be unhappy, by my standards, seem to be the happiest. They struggle to pay basic bills, their cars breakdown all the time their personal relationships are always in turmoil but ask them how their weekend was and they will tell you they had a great time and they mean it. They shrug off their problems and enjoy.



Now contrast that with the people who have everything (again by my standards) and should be happy but are not. They worry about everything and if there is nothing wrong they worry about the future. Does being responsible cause us to be unhappy? Does having deep thoughts kill joy? Should I tell this happy waving man he has it all wrong and he needs to go do something constructive with his time or should I just smile and wave back and be happy for a second with him?