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For years, people were telling me to smile and I'd just reply that perhaps they could tell a joke or do something for me to smile about.
I'm genuinely curious, what was usually the response to this? Did it shut people down or did they obliviously try to accommodate? This is one of those strategies I'd like to use (should the situation arise and I'm thinking fast enough).
I met a customer once when I wasn't at work and he made some kind of comment about how I was friendlier or smiled more when I was working. I just told him I wasn't paid to shine on my own time.
This sounds like the kind of guy who posts on C-D to ask if the cashier he likes is into him, because she smiled and was chatty with him.
I'm genuinely curious, what was usually the response to this? Did it shut people down or did they obliviously try to accommodate? This is one of those strategies I'd like to use (should the situation arise and I'm thinking fast enough).
Some people would just chuckle and/or say something like "touche". Most seemed completely dumbfounded. Maybe 1% actually made an effort to give me something to smile about.
As a side note - the more I think about it the more it seems that people do this not because they care about you but because they feel your "resting face" is ruining the "happy fun times" vibe for themselves. The concert example seems like a perfect case. Oh, everyone is happy so you must smile too. Buzz off!
I have Resting ****** Face, so I was wondering if the reason I haven't experienced this was if I looked TOO mean, or if it is a function of location, or what. My initial thought was maybe people in Chicago are too busy going on about their lives to hassle strangers. It's something I picture happening more in small Southern towns, but I decided to ask two younger female colleagues if they'd experienced it. Turns out they both have. The one who is in her mid thirties said it had been a while. The other one is probably late twenties and is a beautiful blonde. She said it happened quite a bit. Why do people feel they have the right to tell people that? I have told strangers I like their dress, or their hair, but I would never tell them to smile!
Complimenting someone might just put the smile on their face without the demand to smile.
To the people that ask people to smile, it's better just to smile at someone and leave it at that.
So true. When I was waiting for my friend to bring her car around to the front of the hospital, a couple walked in, obviously from the Middle East. The woman was wearing a hijab and following her husband in and she looked up just as she passed me. She had looked so sad walking in, but for some reason we both gave each other a huge smile at the same time as she passed by and her face just lit up when she smiled. I'll never forget that.
I lost my fiance last November and I was really down about it. So some idiot decided to tell me to smile and not think about her. Let's just say he got some very harsh words thrown at him. Bottom line is that I will not please a stranger, I will not smile for you, and I'm not here to entertain you. If this makes me unfriendly to you then that's your issue and I could care less.
Last edited by 49ersfan27; 08-17-2017 at 09:38 PM..
It's one of those incredibly thoughtless things that people say and yes it is SO irritating. I've sometimes felt like carrying a big cardboard cut out smile on a stick and walking around with that in front of my face.
Would you be more offended if someone rather said "Are you OK?" when they notice a gloomy/gruff/RBF person?
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