The SC Smile Police

[Neo_Classic]

I find it very presumptuous for people to think that they can tell you what to do with your face. You have no idea if Carol is mourning the passing of a family member or close friend. You have no idea if Greg is a serious thinker. You have no idea if there just isn't a reason to smile. I can’t stand it when customers feel the need to complain to me or anyone else in management about my cashiers because of smiling. Not everyone smiles. Some people just aren’t smilers (is that even a word?). As long as the cashier is pleasant, asks you how your day was, rings you up promptly, and wishes you a great day, I can excuse not smiling ear to ear.

I have been to Wal-Mart where the cashier does not smile but he is never mean or nasty. I wouldn’t even think twice of telling this to his manager because 1. I have better things to do, 2. Who really gives a shit if the cashier smiles to you? and 3. Retail sucks. There is only so much smiling one person can do during an 8-hour shift. So to all those Smile Police SCs out there: Bite me.

I have had people ask me to smile. No, not ask, DEMAND that I smile. My response is to give them the Miss. Manners icy stare or to question them.

"How do you feel that my face is any of your concern?"

Funny thing is when the SC demanded that I smile I was rearranging an end cap.

And to the people who think that not smiling automatically means that I am unhappy I usually respond with, “That’s an interesting assumption.”

ETA: Also, don't think I'm condoning people who frown. Having a pleasant face and attitude does not include frowning.

[WHShit]

I get this all the time. Even when I am not at work. I have been getting this since I was a teenager and I hate it.

If I am sitting at a till all day, I have no reason to smile ear to ear and be "extremely" happy! Also, if I am walking down the street or standing on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette and I am not smiling, there is no reason for me to do so. WHO THE HELL walks around with a smile on their face all day? I'll tell you who...CRAZY PEOPLE!

Smiling is a reaction to something that makes us happy or laugh. Sitting at a till, at work and walking down the street alone does not make me happy or laugh!

I really wish these people would mind their own business.

[Shengirl]

I HATE this. Hell, this is at least half of the reason I despise old men. They like to come up and say, "Smile, it's not so bad!" It makes me twitch. It's like, "Thanks. Before, I was just concentrating on my work and not in a bad mood at all, but now I'm aggravated."

A smile is not my natural facial expression. I've gotten better at forcing one over my years in retail, but my god, is it that serious if someone is in the zone with her grocery scanning and not grinning ear to ear for your personal satisfaction?

[blas]

People have done that to me at work before. I am on the SAME types of machines night after night, once my newbies are able to be on their own, it's like I'm the mama and they are the baby and they grew up and don't need me anymore......so I'm going to just stand there and work and obviously NOT smile because I just want to go to break and go HOME!

[Crazeyal]

Uh...

I know PLENTY of people who walk around with a smile on their faces all the time. They are CHEERFUL, not crazy. I agree that you shouldn't be bitched at for being of average cheer, but people are people. It's the same arguement as "hating morning people"... Even if someone who's awake and alert at 7 am says NOTHING, they are DESPISED by night owls.

WHShit methinks thou art being oversensitive.

There is a differance between being busy, and being dour.

The entire situation is caused by self centered people. Yes, even the bright cheery people can be self centered if they don't consider the situation surrounding an individual. A cashier dealing with a lunch rush can simply be too busy and stressed to be aggresively polite to EVERYONE. Buh-bye, good day.. have a nice one.. hold on a sec.. just a minute.. where? what?!?! oh... buh bye.. have a nice day... etc etc


On the flip side, sometimes it WORKS to just be a little friendly and telling some stranger "it's okay.. smile" I've seen it work WONDERS. You get two seconds to breathe, everyone around shuts the *** up for a second... and the clerk SMILES!

You don't like that? Fine.. don't smile. But to have such a nasty attitude about a small attempt to break what seems to be a bad day??? Rather harsh.

[GingerBiscuit]

Ok, I don't mind being told to smile by someone who is being nice about it. I loathe the 'smile love, it might never happen' from people who think your face is their property.

Last time someone did that to me my godmother had just died, so I wasn't in a smiley mood.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm one of those people for whom a smile is their default facial expression. It seriously creeps people out. People always tell me "How can you smile so much?"

But if I happen not to be smiling, and some busybody snaps at me 'Smile already!", I just give them the creepiest smile I can muster.

[Tigress]

I usually respond to the "smile" demands with: "How about I just show teeth?" I'm usually pretty easy-going and will make an ass of myself to make someone smile.

But when I'm in a bad mood, it shows. I'm not going to take it out on anyone, but let me have my little funk and I'll be fine once it passes. Sometimes, I just need to sit in a corner and feel sorry for myself. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not in a bad mood because it makes someone else uncomfortable. Just leave me the hell alone.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Oh, man. Don't EVEN get me started. I'm not kind to people who do this. When I worked at Kinko's and someone said this, they got a withering look of contept and then ignored. That was my nice, work response.

When I'm not working, "Smile" is usually met with a simple "Fk off."

"It's not so bad" might even incite a dressing down. "Do you have any idea where I've just been?" delivered with a note of outrage, will cow ANYONE and send them scurrying.

I mean, it doesn't really matter where I've been. They dont' KNOW where I've been, yet they say it. My tone suggests funeral or emergency room, but you don't have to say that. They will imagine that or worse.

Mind your own business next time, idiot. Filter what comes out of your mouth through your brain first.

[Shengirl]

On the flip side, sometimes it WORKS to just be a little friendly and telling some stranger "it's okay.. smile" I've seen it work WONDERS. You get two seconds to breathe, everyone around shuts the *** up for a second... and the clerk SMILES!

I guess it would be one thing if I was upset about something or embarrassed about a mistake I made, and the customer was just trying to be nice about it. Y'know, something specifically situational. But if I'm just doing my job? If I manage to smile after someone tells me to, it's accompanied with eyes of death. Or it might just come out as a grimace. It just drives me crazy, that people assume you're unhappy for NO reason and stick their noses into it.

Actually, I usually take the route some of you others take. Put on an innocently bewildered look and say something like, "Did I look upset, sir?"

[Misanthropical]

I do not like being told to smile. I smile if there is a reason for it and not because someone thinks I should.

I actually had a clerk at a store tell me to "Smile, it can't be that bad". Actually, it can be that bad and I didn't have a reason to smile, but I shouldn't have to give out details of why I wasn't smiling.

[blas]

I do admit at times I have told people at work that they should smile more, but instead of a jackassed approach like "Would it kill you to smile?" or "SMILE DAMMIT!" I use a different approach.

I said to one girl "You have perfect teeth and a beautiful smile, and all of us would like to see it more." She hasn't really, because she really, really hates her job, but she did smile when I said it to her, and I think the compliment made her feel better.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

There are ways to do it and then there are ways to really piss off the target of your good intentions.

"smile!" "It might never happen" and "it's not that bad" REALLY turn my crank backwards.

"Lotta stress today, looks like. Try to relax a little!" is the sort of thing that doesn't anger me. In fact, it will deflate me, put me in a better mood, and will probably get a genuine smile out of me.

[Boozy]

I am also a person who becomes instantly infuriated when someone tells me to "Smile!"

I'm a happy person. I love my life and I have very little to complain about. I don't like the implication that the way my face looks is an indication of how I'm feeling inside. I also don't like the implication that my face looks dour or unappealing. "Smile!" in this context sounds like "You look like you've been sucking a lemon."

Retail employees are not robots. We are not drooling idiots who walk around all day with a dopey grin on our faces because some customers expect it. And even happy-go-lucky me has a bad day once in a while.

I understand that there's no malice in it. But seriously, these folks have got to find another way to brighten someone's day, if that is their intent. How about a "Thank you very much for all your help today!"

If you've ever said "Smile!" to someone and actually received one, I'd put 10-1 odds that it was fake as all hell.

[Emrld]

I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve . . . and yes, even if it isn't my business I care about human beings.
I have been known to see someone who appears to be having a bad day and say "I know you don't know me . . .but is their anything I can do to make your day better." If they glare I walk away . . .or make a nasty comment I walk away.

But on occassion I get the - thank you for asking
or - wow someone really does care response.

I know of too many situations that involved really bad endings . . .that if people knew someone cared wouldn't have happened to just walk away without trying.