The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs (*6)

I have a bad habit. I tend to listen to other people's conversations. It's not as bad as reading though - I can't NOT read text if it's in an alphabet I recognize. I realized the reading compulsion of mine in a museum in Paris - I'd read who knows how much before my eyes realized my brain was shouting: "STOP IT! ALL YOU UNDERSTOOD WAS 'THE', 'SOME', AND 'THE'!* STOP IT!"
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It didn't work. I kept reading (comprehension - zero, brain - frustrated & jetlagged, sulking in the corner, waiting for the patisserie stop). It turns out that high school french will enable you** to order pastry, but not to read about where bronze age jewelry*** was excavated & who it was supposed to belong to. Bummer.
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Today as I was wolfing down Chinese food in the food court****, I was listening to a conversation. I couldn't help it, I was practically in the middle of it; there were two seperate parties at two seperate tables, united by having kids in the same school & nest--friend neighbours, I think. At any rate, I was listening with about the same amount of energy I usually give talk radio, when something one of them said really struck me, & sent my mind spiralling off on its own path. I won't give you any background, just the comment, partially because, dude, not my conversation, and partially because it stands on its own quite well.
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"she really deserves to be happy."
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Don’t we all deserve to be happy? Or is that like saying we all deserved a pony when we turned 7, or a spa day when we turned 35? Is happiness something that we can deserve? Or is happiness like naturally straight teeth – something the lucky few are born with, but it can be achieved with effort, expense, & focus(*5)?
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And what would make us deserving of happiness? Previous suffering? Previous good behavior? Naturally straight teeth?
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Who should decide if we deserve happiness? Who would get to weigh that out?
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And it seems so random, to 'deserve' happiness. I believe that happiness is something you have to work for, but it's also something that you have to allow into your life, too. Sort of like coaxing a wild bird into your hand - you have to do some work, but no chasing or grabbing.
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Of course, having said that, there is one girl that I wish a lifetime of happiness:

I don't know if I'm quite ready to try to teach her how to coax birds into her hands, but it pleases me immensely that she's finds joy in everyday things. (In this case, 3D glasses from her monster truck book.)
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Maybe the trick is to keep that ability...
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*They have two 'the's, you know. Pink ones & blue ones.

**Or at least, I could figure it out. On the other hand, I had a serious love on for the french pastry. I'm going back to Paris someday, just for the tarts. The ones with berries & apstry, though, not the kind in feather boas & fishnets. Although maybe a stop by the Moulin Rouge would be cool.
***I think it was jewelry. I think it was bronze age. It was pretty, for certain.
****I know, bad for me, don't eat fast, don't eat fried, fried, & fried for lunch... but trust me, I needed that salt & pepper squid. And I had a meeting to get to. It was a crap day. Some great, but mostly tiring crap. Oh well.
(*5)Have you ever had braces? That much picky flossing requires a lot of focus.
(*6) One of my favorite songs; it makes me feel happy to hear it; Littlest Birds by the Be Good Tanyas; not a great dubbed video, but if you really like it, you can get it on iTunes, I'm sure.