A Smile

You never know what could it could mean.
You never know what could be hiding behind it.
It could be as simple as someone smiling at the person behind the counter checking out their groceries.
It could be as simple as someone trying to cover up the fact that they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.
It's kind of become an expected thing, though. It's just like when you ask someone how they're doing, expecting the answer "fine," even though they may now be. And you don't want to see someone crying, because then you would have to care, and that would mean listening to their problems. But if you really care about someone, and you can look beyond the smile and see some of the weight of the world in their eyes, ask how they're doing and when they reply, "fine," ask how they're really doing. And listen. They may not wanna talk about it and that's fine. But they may want to talk about and just not know how. Some people know nothing but bottling their feelings in, because no one has cared enough to really ask how they're doing. So care. Ask. Listen, even when it's hard for them to talk.
So I know that this may not have made much sense to you. There wasn't much of a flow to it, but then again there's not always a flow to my thoughts. And these are the thoughts of a teenage gypsy state of mind.