The SC Smile Police

[GoldFinch]

At my old grocery store job it was store policy to smile 24/7. I'm serious. Nobody ever did though, except for the ones that actually enjoyed working there. People didn't seem to understand that when you've been on your feet for eight hours beneath head ache inducing fluorescent lights dealing with idiot after idiot that you don't exactly want to smile. That, and smiling for that long really hurts and you eventually just come off as looking really creepy from the stress of trying to smile for so long.

[ReverendBSB]

I always liked what Bill Hicks had to say on this matter..

Stupid Person: Whats wrong?
Bill Hick: Nothing.
SP: Well it takes more energy to frown than to smile!
BH: Well it takes more energy to tell me that than to shut the fuck up!

Or

SP: Smile!
BH: Why don't you get the fuck away from me and then I'll really be smiling.

[ArenaBoy]

I'm a serious thinker, I don't smile much unless there's something to smile about. I never liked being told to do something and that even includes smiling. If I am feeling up to it I'll give the world's most murderous grin and just stare at the smiler.

That said, whenever I was told to smile: In my head "I'm not smiling because I'm dealing with dumb asses like you!"

[RecoveringKinkoid]

At my old grocery store job it was store policy to smile 24/7. I'm serious. .

That sounds seriously creepy.

[katie kaboom]

At my old grocery store job it was store policy to smile 24/7.

I would not have lasted 2 seconds in that place. I smile when I want to smile. Period. End of discussion. Nothing pisses me off more than a complete and total stranger telling me to smile. And then on the rare occasions i do smile some ignorant asswipe always looks at me and goes "oh, whatcha smiling about?" None of your goddamn business, so STFU!

[AirHostess]

When I was flying I would be told to smile more by passengers.

My answer 'if you had been up since 3am and on your 4th flight of the day would YOU be smiling?'

As long as you are not rude and provide an efficient service why should they complain? Anyway, flight attendants are there to save your ass not kiss it!

[rerant]

I had a woman approach my cash the other day who made a comment to me about the lack of smiles she was seeing on the faces of cashiers.
Note: it was about 6pm on a SATURDAY and the store was RAMMED. We were all doing our damndest to be efficient and productive, but not exactly loving life at the moment, you know?
She said: What ever happened to service with a smile?
The customer I was serving at the time said to her (and I loved him for this): If you want service with a smile try shopping Monday to Friday and not hassling the employees.

Thank goodness for awesome people like him.

[XCashier]

She said: What ever happened to service with a smile?
The customer I was serving at the time said to her (and I loved him for this): If you want service with a smile try shopping Monday to Friday and not hassling the employees.

Thank goodness for awesome people like him.

Sounds like he's worked in customer service himself! Isn't it great when your good customers will stand up for you against sucky customers? That alone wil bring a smile to your face.

I hate it when people demand that I smile. I've got the "serious thinker" default expression too, plus I don't react well to people barking orders at me. We're not robots, for heaven's sake. We're as human as anyone else. We feel under the weather, or have personal problems, and we can't just turn off our emotions like a light switch. And after eight hours straight of SCs, you aren't too likely to be Pollyanna when someone barks "Smile!" at you.

[Misanthropical]

At one of the sites I worked security at, the rumor was that if I was smiling it meant I was about to hurt someone and everyone should run for cover.

[MoonChild2007]

I can't stand that as well. Not so much the smiling but the fact that some people will say to me, "its not so bad!". Ummm, first of all, you don't know me nor what is going through my head. My life is crap right now, why should I smile?

[Ree]

I still have no idea why my post inspired someone to get a bit angry with me.

I know this is trivial, but I felt that a reply was in order as I really didn't deserve to be told how I have a nasty attitude from someone who doesn't even know me.

I am thinking, because you were the second person to reply, and you said that people who go around smiling are "CRAZY", that's why Crazeyal responded to you specifically on that point.

He didn't quote you, and in fact, he didn't quote anyone, so it's possible only a portion of it was meant for you, and the rest was directed at everyone who had responded in the same way.

Of course, I am just playing devils advocate here...I could be wrong.

I used to get customers complaining all the time that I don't smile enough.

I often catch myself at work with the worst frowns on my face.

I am just so stressed all the time, and dealing with nothing but problems all day long, that it is very hard to find anything to smile about.
If I meet a customer, I will smile and say hi to them, and the same with my coworkers, but for the most part, I am just not the type to always go around smiling.

I also hate having people telling me to smile.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

First of all, one's default face is not necessarily indicative of mood. Some of us...wait for it...AGE!!!!!

GASP HORROR

...and Santa Claus face is not necessarily, believe it or not, given as some kind of religious karma gift to those who are happy in their youth.

Sometimes young and middle-aged people have normal, everyday, neither smiling nor frowning faces that don't APPEAR to be happy. Sometimes I am sure that I am smiling, when someone demands I smile for their pleasure. What I'm saying is "you can't judge a book by its cover, so stop fricking judging a book by its cover."

Telling someone to smile can BE SEEN AS (appearances again?) a selfish demand, with no regard for the other's well-being. This may be true. Someone may actually want someone to feel better, too. There's a good chance that demanding someone smile may be the LAST THING YOU WANT TO DO to cheer someone up. It just may be farking stupid.

Try this: speak in kind tones, say something nice, and smile warmly. If smiling really does make someone feel better, then smile, don't demand a performance.

Like I always say: if my employers want an actor, then they'd better damned well pay me SAG (Stage Actors Guild) scale.

[April]

I never understood demanding that your cashier smile. Frankly, as long as they are polite, efficient and get the job done I couldn't care less if they smile at me. I'd rather have a cashier who doesn't smile but gets me out of there quickly than a bubbly chatter box cashier who takes forever (and before I get jumped on, I know that bubbly chatter box cashiers can be quick too)

And besides, I'd rather have a real facial expression than a fake one anyday.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

[QUOTE=Crazeyal;191130]
WHShit methinks thou art being oversensitive.
QUOTE]

Methinks you use that phrase way too much. It's okay to rant about something that ticks you off, it doesn't mean you are being oversensitive. I think that WHShit gets ticked about is the condescending tone people use with "You should smile", as do I. It's not the fact that they are asking me to smile, it's the fact that they are making an assumption about you and are trying to tell you what to do.

I will agree with her and say that people who plaster a smile on all freakin' day long do have something wrong with them. It's a little different than just being joyful. People can tell when it's genuine and when it isn't.

I'm a night owl and I DON'T despise morning people. I just despise it when they think you should also be a morning peson and make lots of noise to wake you up or call you at six in the morning(his excuse was that he was getting me ready to go to school...on a saturday morning...wtf?).

[Pagan]

I'm another one of those "serious thinker" default expression people, too. Guess why? I'm usually thinking, that's why!

What's even more amusing is if I'm really concentrating on something, my face will lose all expression and I look like I'm completely zoned out!

And why is it that the Smile Police aren't smiling themselves?