SMILE!!!

[Gizmo]

I really can't win anyway. I just have this evil sort of expression 24/7. If I'm not smiling, people think I want to kill someone. If I am smiling, they think I did.

My husband said that you just described me. I do get asked "what did you do" if people catch me smiling.

I did once say to a customer that I didn't look happy today since I was actually unwell and was just finishing my shift before going home to collapse like I had all Christmas. The fact I said this with a sore throat and barely there voice did help. Of course now I think back and realise they probably complained and it was one of the reasons I didn't get asked to stay on after New Year*.

*(as well as being sick and insisting on keeping to the rules of not coming into work when I'd been... unwell... in the last 72 hours. They actually told me I couldn't tell them I wouldn't be in the next day when I'd literally told them "I've got a contagious illness and as per the staff handbook shouldn't come back to work until Wednesday and I probably won't be well enough to do so anyway".)

[Pagan]

Yep. Time to trot this story out again...

Back when I worked in Motel Hell, I got written up once during a visit from our corporate overlords because I didn't show enough teeth when I smiled. It wasn't because I wasn't smiling. I was. It was because I wasn't showing enough teeth. In retaliation, I developed a maniacal, open-mouthed grin that showed all of my teeth, all at once. I could hold it for about forty-five minutes before my face started to cramp. During this time I would point at my teeth to emphasize that I had all of them and they were naturally straight and evenly spaced, not to mention well-maintained.

The corporate overlord didn't appreciate me following her around pointing at my teeth, but I did it all the same.

That is just one of the most utterly stupid things I've ever heard! Love your response though.

I'd be constantaly written up. While I do smile, I rarely show my teeth much because I don't like the way they look. I'm very self-concious of them.

Makes me wonder what they would do if you had a couple of teeth missing....

[morgana]

The corporate overlord didn't appreciate me following her around pointing at my teeth, but I did it all the same.

I luff chu . . .

[Antisocial_Worker]

Yep. Time to trot this story out again...

Back when I worked in Motel Hell, I got written up once during a visit from our corporate overlords because I didn't show enough teeth when I smiled. It wasn't because I wasn't smiling. I was. It was because I wasn't showing enough teeth. In retaliation, I developed a maniacal, open-mouthed grin that showed all of my teeth, all at once. I could hold it for about forty-five minutes before my face started to cramp. During this time I would point at my teeth to emphasize that I had all of them and they were naturally straight and evenly spaced, not to mention well-maintained.

The corporate overlord didn't appreciate me following her around pointing at my teeth, but I did it all the same.

[Syriilord]

I despise this demand. I hear the "Smile!" crap every time it's busy. Next time I think I'll quote from Murder on the Orient Express.

Hercule Poirot: You never smile, madame?
Princess Dragomiroff: My doctor has advised against it.

I prefer a slightly modified quote from Futurama: "I'm not allowed to smile. Court order"

[bunnyboy]

I'm still under orders to not fake a smile.

Oddly the customers aren't complaining.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I guess it would have been bad if you had confessed that you were smiling only because you were picturing the subway train going off the track and bursting into flames... Of course, nowadays you'd probably end up being a suspected terrorist just for saying that...

[cindybubbles]

Someone once caught me smiling to myself on the subway. He mentioned that it's a shame that people don't smile anymore and congratulated me. I thought that, though it was nice, it was also creepy for a stranger to thank me for something that I considered private!

[EricKei]

Jokes like that are simply Unforgettable Unforgivable...

[dalesys]

Don't ever tell me to "Smile" unless you're Nat or Natalie. It just ain't Cole.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I hate people telling me to smile. For your information, insensitive customer, I have Aspergers Syndrome and find smiling really difficult. The fact that I'm not smiling does not mean I'm miserable. I try to speak in a cheery voice at all times to make up for my impassive face, but saying, "Smile!", "Cheer up, love!" or "Teehee, put on a happy face!" is out of order and should be refrained from if you don't want to become part of my murderous fantasies played out in my head.

[ShinyGreenApple]

I get this every now and then, and yes, it's irritating. What if I'm in pain? What if I just lost someone, or have serious financial problems, or broke up with an SO?

But sure, I'll smile all you want. Just lemme pop in my fangs first. I love smiling when I have those things in

[b2addm]

I second all the raging hatred for this. I handle it by looking the person dead in the eye and smiling a huge, deranged looking, obviously fake smile. They hate that.

[TheTigress]

The next time a customer tells me to smile I'm simply going to reply with "Smiling on command was not included in my programming."

[EricKei]

'twas making a joke.

3 genders, and age matters not....male, female, and whatever the hell SC's are. I'm not sure that they deserve to be recognized as being part of the Animal kingdom ^_^

edit --

FINALLY! Someone who doesn't want us to smile ^_^ http://notalwaysright.com/misery-dem...y-part-3/15810