Some people don’t like being told to smile. But when vendor Jonas Stone held up his “SMILE” sign to the crowds coming off the downtown Seattle ferries, he’d bring a smile to the faces of the most recalcitrant. He’d call out “Cheer up, it’s not raining yet!” or “I’m sorry to bother you, but you dropped your smile back there.”
Jonas had to find that smile himself. “I used to have a sign that said: ‘I’m hungry, I’m poor, I’m broke, I’m homeless.’” He would watch ferry passengers coming by, “dragging their chins across the ground,” and he realized he could make a difference. ...