Smile With LTD
To celebrate World Smile Day on Oct. 7, 2022, LTD bus operators and staff will wear smiley face buttons, and they want passengers and the community to smile, too.
“World Smile Day reminds all of us to take a moment to acknowledge the people we see every day,” said Cammie Harris, the LTD Marketing Representative coordinating the District’s Smile Day initiative for the second consecutive year. “What better way to say hello and express gratitude than with a warm smile.”
The benefits of smiling have been noted in numerous research articles. A Psychology Today article identifies several benefits to smiling:
- Smiling elevates mood and creates a sense of well-being
- Even a forced smile can lead to a mood boost
- Smiling can make a person look younger
- Smiling makes people seem courteous, likable, and competent
- Smiling can make a person look thinner
- Smiling induces more pleasure in the brain than chocolate
- Smiling is contagious
Harris says smiley buttons will be available from bus operators and from customer service representatives at the downtown Eugene Transit Station for the month of October. Follow LTD on social media for details on how to win prizes by participating in the #WSDChallenge.
“I hope everyone will take a moment to smile and, if not, at least wear a smiley face button to say ‘hello,’” Harris said.
Harvey Bell, a Massachusetts graphic designer, created the smiley face in 1963. He organized the first World Smile Day in 1999. Bell believed that everyone should devote one day each year to smiles and kind acts throughout the world. After his death in 2001, the Harvey Bell World Smile Day Foundation was established to honor him through an annual sponsorship of World Smile Day®.
Travel with LTD to the places you want to go. Complete bus schedules and maps are available on the LTD website.