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86 Comments
- ratherbeinvegas, on 05/19/2008, -1/+63Smiling at a stranger at a urinal may be very harmful.
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -1/+40You mean forced behavior that makes you unhappy is bad? Gee no *****...
- Neticule, on 05/19/2008, -4/+27Forcing yourself to smile can actually improve your mood, atleast in my experience, if I am getting upset for some certain reason, and can make myself crack a smile I feel much better.
I do think the article may be correct in a way though, being forced to smile by someone else, like a boss, is not fun at all, especially if its for a job and you must smile 10 hours straight. - jimmick, on 05/19/2008, -1/+19If you work in a profession which requires you to smile all the time, you may already be suffering depression and stress
Flight attendants cop SO much ***** from foppish fliers
"You! Bring me the Wall Street Journal, you two, fight to the death" - Brad12088, on 05/19/2008, -0/+16I guess Ronald McDonald is screwed then.
- EserVerx, on 05/19/2008, -1/+17Thats the ticket, repress those feelings. Nothing bad can come of repressing your feelings!
- fr3ddie, on 05/19/2008, -0/+14Serenity now.... insanity later!
- hauntedchippy, on 05/19/2008, -0/+146. Fat virgin living in his parents basement trying to get moral high ground on the internet.
- aladrin, on 05/19/2008, -0/+12But forcing yourself to smile -at- something or someone unpleasant will devalue your smile. It becomes a mask, instead of happiness. If used occasionally, it's fine, but if you deal with ***** day in and day out, you'll come to think of the smile as a tool instead of a reflection of how you feel.
I'd say this problem is biggest with those who don't naturally have a bubbly personality and are forced to fake it to do their jobs. Personally, I enjoy helping customers, so smiling was never a problem... And I rarely smiled at the ***** anyhow. (I kind of miss customer service now.) - theholotrope, on 05/19/2008, -1/+10"Can smiling be harmful?"
Youre damn skippy. One time I smiled at a Scientologist and now Xenu is my master. - ConceptualTrap, on 05/19/2008, -0/+8Try being a flight attendant and having to force that smile for eight or more hours a day. It's just about the same thing.
Hell, I worked in a corporate coffee shop for a few months and everyday was like that. Some people I didn't mind but try forcing a smile when you've a line of people ten deep and the bitch at the counter takes five minutes to decide on mocha or a latte. Just knowing that she could of done this in line like every other person is enough to make you want to pour a pot of scalding coffee on her.
That said, getting out of work almost feels like winning the lottery. - RealmDown, on 05/19/2008, -0/+7I got a news flash for them: It's torture on us recipients too.
I know there are worse things to endure, but a phony smile ranks right up there.
I'd rather have an honest frown. - johndi, on 05/19/2008, -1/+8"Professor Dieter Zapf of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt told Apotheken Umschau, a healthcare magazine handed out free at pharmacies in Germany. Zapf's findings are based on research conducted by the university."
They don't give the name of the study, but there is your source. (Perhaps it hasn't been published yet).
It may not hold true for all people, but ask just about any introvert. I don't know many people, especially introverts, who like having to put on a phony PR smile for their job. - WoollyMittens, on 05/19/2008, -1/+7Smiling at the wrong people can work like showing your teeth at a chimpansee.
- Aensland, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5I don't recall where I heard it, but in the animal kingdom showing teeth is a sign of aggression.
- thisoneisunique, on 05/19/2008, -0/+5After 9 months in England I returned to Germany and the first time I went to my bank I thought about one of the clerks "geez, she's RUDE"... But! The guy in the bank in England with all of his "would you like to have a seat?" and "We will sort that out for you." and disappearing behind a door for 10 minutes, coming back and repeating those phrases... well, he was essentially useless; and the rude clerk in my small town got things done. I'm not excusing rude behaviour but politeness is just one side of good service, isn't it. Oh, and I am a native Swabian, and I'm as polite a person as you'll ever meet :)
- hauntedchippy, on 05/19/2008, -1/+6I've always found you guys to be nothing less than extremely polite, or maybe thats just compared to the French?
- freakout1, on 05/19/2008, -1/+6WHAT?
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/6341/genuineez4 ... - yogiincork, on 05/19/2008, -4/+9Dugg for "...It's unlikely to become a major health issue though -- German customer service isn't renowned for its friendliness...."
Before you start flaming: I'm German, I know what I am talking about :) - bronxelf, on 05/19/2008, -0/+4You beat me to it. The whole smiling all the time thing can be torture to introverts. Extroverts seem to have fewer problems with it and can push the whole "smile philosophy" thing really hard.
- jotok, on 05/19/2008, -1/+5Do you live in Germany?
I do. Customer service here is terrible and people who run the shops are always irritable. Don't even try calling anyone's customer service line...they are fully empowered to hang up on customers if they don't want to deal with you for ANY reason (my neighbor works in a t-punkt call center and can verify this).
Of course I have been told this is really a Schwabian thing and that Berliners are a lot more friendly. - jotok, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3No kidding! I've been living over here for 7 months...the service sector in Germany is not exactly "customer-oriented." It was probably the #1 thing to get over.
- TheAnomaly, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3To quote Bob Kelso: "Dr. Simotas, stop smiling! .... I hate smiling."
- galvo, on 05/19/2008, -2/+5I can't stand a forced smile.
- houndeyex, on 05/19/2008, -1/+4I'm a tumor, I'm a tumor...
Oohh, I'm a tumor. - belebih, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3Ah, I guess that sheds some light on this:
http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/DO_IT
Lower life forms indeed. I mean, it originates in 4chan after all. - davewashere, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3Let's make a study that shows a correlation between forced emotions and higher stress/depression levels and then release the study with a sensational headline like "Is Smiling Harmful?" that will be sure to attract various brainless non-news sources like Spiegel and CNN.com. Women will read my name in these news articles and want to have sex with me, the famous psychologist.
Seriously, this study has nothing to do with smiling. Professor Dieter Zapf of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe have undermined their careers just to get their names in a stupid article. - chrisplusjacqui, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3Tune in next week when we dig deep into the legend of the lethal hug...
- Gudath, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3I know exactly what you mean. I once worked about two levels under a manager who was the meanest, most vicious, Machiavellian SOB I have encountered in my 69 years. Like Dallas' J. R. Ewing, he was capable of gratuitous cruelty. The creepiest thing about him was his constant big, warm, friendly smile.
- WTFppl, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3That's when I leave that job!
- mindlessknight, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2smiles that aren't genuine shouldn't be researched at such....pretending to work out probably wouldn't be great for my health either.....haha, and it would certainly be depressing!
- hauntedchippy, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2I take it Chimps don't like that?
- RealmDown, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Was that a real smiley, or a forced smiley ?
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Go back to Wikipedia.
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -3/+5[Insert another ignorant and insulting ethnic stereotype here]
Please choose from:
1. Fat uneducated and boorish American.
2. Drunk Irish
3. Lazy Mexican
4. Drug dealing black man
5. Penny pinching jewish person - hybridcreation, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2This just in...life is harmful.
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D *i hate you*
- Jan33, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2some of the bavarians i meet would rather chew their own legs off than display moderate friendliness on the job. Unrelatedly, perhaps, some of them also think eating pussy is demeaning.
- Gudath, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2This reminds me of the old story of the passenger who chided a flight attendant for not smiling. She said, "Show me how." He gave her a big, warm, beaming smile. She said, "OK, that's great. Now hold it like that for eight hours."
- BoogieManOh, on 05/19/2008, -8/+10I don't see any sources.. I'm not sure that I believe it. Maybe if your smile was really ugly.
- Llanowar, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2Of course it carries health risks.
I always want to beat up people who smile too much. - Razyael, on 05/19/2008, -0/+2There's a clown on the wing!
- Versh, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1I've read an excellent article by Scott Wetzler, Ph.D a few months ago in Psychology Today about passive aggressive behavior, and "fake/forced smiling" is almost always a tremendous tip-off.
In general, I would suggest avoiding being passive-- it wrecks the blood pressure even when you exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet.
This issue with smiling is just the facade for deeper problems. - kahakauai, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1Watch... Next year they will have a new "scientific study" that says laughing causes cancer...
- inactive, on 05/19/2008, -1/+2HAHAHA... I remember reading about a study a few years back in which an American scientist blamed grumpy German tendencies on all of the umlauted vowels in the german language.
Talked about here: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archi ...
This new study almost seems like a blatant response by a bitter and umlauted german scientist. Hilarious... In all seriousness, however, I am in full agreement with the premise of this study. Forcing a smile isn't healthy, and in most people a forced smile is usually accompanied by other detrimental facial expressions/contortions like furled brows, sagging eyes, and a tense jaw. Actually, I think this type of forced smile is probably the predominant type in our modern culture. It's pretty rare that you come across someone who's actually capable of truly smiling with their entire face. - donna1234, on 09/22/2008, -0/+1A German psychologist has warned "professional smilers" such as flight attendants and shop assistants that too much forced smiling can cause stress
http://www.mucpr.com - punx, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I worked for Disney when I was a young teenager, and we were forced to smile all the time. I can promise that the only thing that does is make you want to kill your boss. The job lasted three months, and that was two months and three weeks too long. It does end up pissing you off, because those smiles are in no way real.
- dngbauer, on 05/29/2008, -0/+1always a real smiley :) :)
- sanotaan, on 05/19/2008, -0/+1I also lived in Germany. I would not say it's Schwabian, nor would I say that Berliners are any more or less friendly than those in other parts of the country. Perceived or real brusqueness, as it is with any culture, probably just boils down to the individual. However, when I lived in Germany (chiefly Thüringen, though I spent time near most major cities), I could much more readily tell that Germans in customer service roles (restaurant waitstaff included) were in the mindset of doing a job and fulfilling a task rather than simply earning money.
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