Smile Openly and Warmly

I met Onnik on my way out of Le Pain Quotidien one morning. Onnik was born in Jerusalem, a Christian Armenian whose parents escaped the genocide in Armenia. He left Jerusalem as the wave of Jews were escaping their own genocide at the hands of the Nazis. He’s seen the faces of people who have had the worst kind of suffering.

It’s hard for me to approach strangers and ask them if they wouldn’t mind giving me advice on life… and can I film it for a website? If I’m not already in a natural conversation it’s a difficult thing to do “cold.” Sometimes I try to “cold read” people. And that’s what I did with Onnik. You can see in his body language that he’s an available participant in life. He likes to talk to people and he smiles openly and warmly. His wife of 47 years smiles politely and tautly, no wrinkles in the eyes as it’s forced. I spoke to her off camera – a nice woman, but one who needs to know people well before she lets her guard down and speaks comfortably. When I attempted to film her, she stiffly shook her head. Onnik on the other hand, gave me a smile which ran all the way up to his wrinkled eyes, and then he opened himself up to me. Once again, it’s not necessarily the advice that teaches me the most about people and how to live my own life. Like my last interview, I’ll probably soon forget what Onnik said to me. But I won’t forget his smile and the idea that it’s important to remain open and available to people, even when you’ve seen the worst that people can do.