"Stop being so cheerful!!"

[customersruinmylife]

Monday nights at the pub are normally dead, so we always have the bare minimum amount of staff on, a manager and two other workers. Last night, half the population of the town decided we were the place to be, so it just ended up being me and the two co-workers serving on the bar ALL NIGHT. The pub was a bombsite by the end of the night, but we were kept so busy there was no oppurtunity to clean.

I don't know what was up with me, but I was in an AMAZING mood. Maybe its because I know I will be out of there soon. I turned to my two co-workers and told them to keep smiling and not freak out. It was busy, but there was nothing we could do about it.

It worked! And we had an absolutely amazing laugh behind the bar. Things were going completely wrong. Beer was running out, spirits were running empty, registers were running out of change, and the line at the bar was just getting longer, and longer. All we could do was laugh. The customers HATED it. Apparently we were only allowed to be as miserable as they were. I received the following comments:

"You have no reason to be smiling!"

"Quit laughing and hurry up and serve me!"

"Wipe that smile off your face! Can't you see you are too busy to be smiling?"

I just turned to one guy and said:

"Well, I'm not gonna cry, so I might as well do this "

The customers seriously hated the fact we were cheerful! Maybe they are only happy when they can see us running around, stressed out. And no doubt if we were doing that, we would get endless comments like "Smile!!"

[Jester]

Shit, what is WRONG with your customers? I know that if I'm at a bar that is packed and the staff is having fun, *I* am going to be having fun. And seriously, why do they want you to be miserable. What is wrong with that town?

I'm sorry. I just don't get it.

[seigus]

I would ENJOY it if the staff had that kind of an attitude during a rough time. Some people...

[McGoddess09]

If I would have been there, I would have loudly announced that you are getting an extra tip for being so great during a busy time.

Seriously,wtf tamale?

[Food Lady]

It just goes to show that SCs even want control over our emotions. They're all control-freaks. That's what entitlement is really all about--control. If you smile, you're too happy. If your hurried, you aren't happy enough. You can't win, except by doing what you did: choosing to be happy. Hard to do some days.

[AirHostess]

Sometimes I work I act really fake over happy. Smiling and saying 'thank you' to everyone. The passengers hate it! How dare the hired help be happy!

[Anakah]

I usually get those customers who tell me to smile! I tend to get that serious face on me when I am focusing and they think I am angry. Atleast you can't get into trouble, there are no rules against smiling! lol

[BookstoreEscapee]

I usually get those customers who tell me to smile! I tend to get that serious face on me when I am focusing and they think I am angry. Atleast you can't get into trouble, there are no rules against smiling! lol

I hate those customers. I'm not going to stand there like an idiot with a fake grin on my face for 8 hours a day, and when I'm working I'm focusing on other things than the expression on my face. When I dealt with customers I was pleasant and smiled, but if I'm just standing there or doing something with no customers to deal with, I'm not gonna be smiling. It was almost always cocky middle-aged men who told me to smile, too.

I can't say that I've ever had someone actually complain that I'm smiling too much, though. I don't know how I'd react to that. (Though I did once have a manager tell me my "we're closing in X minutes" announcement was a little too cheerful. "Over the top" was the phrase she used, in her clipped British way. )

[TonyDonuts]

But, being cheerful while the world collapses around me makes the SCs of the world MISERABLE, so it's kind of like tasting their tears...

...and that is so very, wonderfully sweet.

[Pagan]

Atleast you can't get into trouble, there are no rules against smiling! lol

Don't be so sure. One of the other techs at work had some customer complain because she was polite and nice to them!

I'm not going to stand there like an idiot with a fake grin on my face for 8 hours a day, and when I'm working I'm focusing on other things than the expression on my face.

Not to mention, it makes you look completely insane. Of course, that could be useful....

[AnaKhouri]

I like seeing people having fun when they're working.

[XCashier]

I hate those customers. I'm not going to stand there like an idiot with a fake grin on my face for 8 hours a day, and when I'm working I'm focusing on other things than the expression on my face....It was almost always cocky middle-aged men who told me to smile, too.

It was usually crotchety old men with me, and it was usually a barked demand. "SMILE!" Of course, they never demanded that the male associates smile...

Sheesh, the SCs demand we smile when we're serious, and demand we get serious when we smile. You can't win.

[jjllbb]

This is the same phenomenon that i've stumbled across. I kill myself making sure i'm smiling and bubbly at work no matter how i feel.

But i've actually found that if there is a problem like a long line or such that you can't do anything about people won't get as angry with you if you act solemn or stressed out.

It's actually a tactic I use. When theres a long line and i have no back up I stop acting bubbly. I work at the same pace but it somehow gives people the illusion that i'm working harder than i was when i was happy.

Just like in the comments you quoted they don't think you're doing anything to help if you're in a good mood or happy somehow.

I don't get it.

[Imogene]

"SMILE!"

That'd be the point where I break out my Florence Ambrose grin, and watch them run away. Seriously, I have two settings: no emotion, or creepy, tooth-filled grin.

[hotelnpa]

I was at a busy McDonald's during the breakfast rush and the people working were taking it in the stride. They were very polite and smiled to everyone despite the fact that people waiting in line were being as-holes complaining about the long lines and wait.