Smile.

[Tony the Toad]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/pa34

[jimcee]

This is a curious post.
The title subject is Smile. On accessing it one is immediatly diverted to thr BBC weather forecast which prretty well ties up with what is happening outside one's house.
So am I expected to smile because the forecasters have got it right, or because the sun is shining and it is not blowing a hooley (this is the kind of stuff we should be getting currently anyway), so I am at a loss as to why this post should engender a smile. Perhaps the originator could provide some enlightenment.

[Kathy Bowles]

I'm smiling!!

[jimcee]

Why is Tony the Toad wanting us to smile, and why is Batwing smiling?
I would like to smile also, but would welcome a reason.

[MonaLott]

'cause the weather's unusually great and the medium-term forecast excellent - what's your problem, JC? - a year ago tomorrow, we had extreme gales, trees down and all leafed flora blasted close to death - haven't you noticed the difference? - and isn't this well worth a smile?

[jimcee]

What's all this about the weather being "unusually great" - surely this is just par for the course for this time of the year, and more of the same should be in the offing - for weeks to come.
So, last year we did have a very unseasonal gale at a very inappropriate time, but that was more a time for gnashing of teeth, than the current spell which is just a return to normality.
There has to be more behind this exhortation to smile than just a few good days of balmy weather on the trot.

[Foxglove]

For goodness sake Jim..if you want to smile then just do it!!. Do we have to have a reason? I'm sure if you 'force' one then you will find that people will respond to it positively and who knows..you may be able to crack a smile without even trying!

[DonnieC]

Well Jim, here's something you can really smile at ........... it's a month to the longest day and it's all downhill after that

Enjoy this while you can and

[Pentlandpirate]

Hooray for climate change!!!

[jimcee]

How did I get myself involved in this ?
I seem to be in a minority of one here.
However here is a cautionary tale to point up the pitfalls of too much smiling.
Back in the mists of time there was an activity called National Service.
At the start of this "gap 2 years" in one's life there was a bit of purgatory, called "Square Bashing".
This involved considerable marching about under the command of sadistic corporal psychopaths called Drill Instructors.
During one of an early session of this mind numbing activity, I was hauled out of our squad by a particularly offensive Instructor, marched out of sight of the rest of the squad, behind one of the billets, and belligerently asked to explain why I was smiling.
Up until that moment in my life my natural expression probably resembled something of a smile.
However in the interests of diplomacy (and survival) I agreed that there was very little to smile about, and in future would employ a soberer countenance.
In retrospect, this was probably just a bit of "bully boy" tactics to enforce discipline, and underscore their power over us, but was not an experience I look back on with any great fondness.
Since then my smiling activity has returned to normal, and given the lecturing I have had on this subject from the rest of the posters, I will probably add the weather to my list.

[Foxglove]

That's the spirit jimcee