The Waitress

When I first observed Renoir's painting of the waitress, I thought she expressed a genuine happiness. I didn't detect an underlying begrudging nature. As I began to read Billy Collin's poem, my perspective did change. Collins description of the waitress summoned images of a tireless woman wading back and forth between customers, with an endless volley of orders and demands. I went back and looked at the picture again to see if I could discover anything else. This time I detected something in the curvature of the smile, the way her hand was placed to her side for support, and the tensed nature of her eyebrows. The smile looks feigned now. It seems like she's distressed, as if she's dealing with some sort of huge issue in her life and the smile plastered on her face is an obligation that comes with the job.