It’s quite wonderful how we express so many good (and some not) emotions through something as seemingly simple as smiling. But it feels like it’s evident to everyone that we’re not all feeling the same, and not every occasion is something to smile about.
Well, according to one Reddit user, there are some who don’t find it so obvious. Whenu/dubious_unicornaccompanied her husband to the gastroenterologist, she had the “pleasure” of meeting a receptionist who never missed a chance to tell all the clinic’s visitors to smile, as if oblivious to why anyone would come there. Scroll down to read the full story!
More info:Reddit
Being happy is wonderful, but not everyone is, and it’s not okay to try to force them to be
Image credits:RDNE Stock project (not the actual photo)
A woman brought her husband to a clinic on a rainy, gloomy morning for an unpleasant checkup
Image credits:R O (not the actual photo)
Despite the clinic being crammed with a grim crowd who had no wish to be there, the overexcited receptionist persistently demanded that everyone smile and be happy
Image credits:u/dubious_unicorn
It was a routine checkup for which the OP and her husband arrived at a gastroenterology clinic. The weather outside was unwelcoming, and even though it was 7:30 AM, the waiting room was crammed with people who would all rather be elsewhere.
But regardless of this grim picture, the Christmas music blasting through the clinic’s speakers seemed as if it had put rose-tinted glasses on the receptionist’s eyes because every time she would walk past that room, she just had to yell that it was a good day and demand that people smile.
This kind of behavior was met with awkward smiles and angry glances, but the receptionist saw no reason to stop. The OP determined that looking tired or unhappy in America must be borderline illegal because some people won’t take any excuse for not smiling like every single thing in your life is perfect.
Commenters all agreed with this OP’s point of view and joined in the action, ranting about people who just can’t deal with the fact that some might not be happy, instead assuming they’re rude. A few Redditors also shared their own stories, like getting told to smile while going to get their strong depression meds or simply telling how they confronted such a person, making this kind of behavior look even more absurd.
Image credits:Carmel Nsenga (not the actual photo)
One of the best-known traits relevant to Americans is a wide, enthusiastic smile. But why is that so? Well, we did some additional research to uncover the answers to this question.
The authors of the study came to the conclusion that emotional expressiveness correlates with diversity, as the language barrier forces people to depend more on body language, and smiling is known to build friendship, trust, and cooperation. Since there are 83 so-called source countries connected to the US, the origins of this occurrence suddenly starts to make a lot more sense.
This is also a part of the problem as to why some American companies have difficulty expanding overseas, especially if those businesses want their employees to communicate with customers while exhibiting these characteristics.
Some cultures that are not as used to smiling, making eye contact, and greeting people may find these things strange, and while workers can be taught, this may not work well with the clientele. In addition, where some of these friendly traits are not as common, things like smiling can be confused with flirting, which raises additional problems.
Commenters wholeheartedly agreed with the poster’s point of view and shared similar stories, each worse than the one before
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