Do You Get Told To "Smile" All The Time?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm very self-conscious about having my picture taken. Most pictures taken of me are unflattering. I think I look too stiff in a lot of my pictures.

Everybody used to tell me that, since i have grown a full beard it's a lot less/non existent.

I don't get told to smile but I guess my face doesn't look mean or anything so no one really notices.

When I'm comfortable with people, I naturally smile.

I am usually quiet, can come off as serious if you don't know me well but once you get to know me, my sense of humor is a big part of me and I'm known as a hyena in my friend group. If I'm really not comfortable, my face is at it's neutral state/my expression is the opposite of a smile.

At my first job, my job coach was telling me to practice smiling in a mirror and repeatedly hammered in my head, "be friendly!" I know how to smile thank you very much, I even had the nickname picklepuss. :/ When I'm not comfortable in an environment, I naturally don't smile and I have resting female dog face so being told I am doing something wrong only adds to the pressure and stress and makes me smile less. I promise I am not being defiant, just the way I react to that kind of thing.

I remember William F. Buckley, Jr. refusing to smile as he made his entrance on the Johnny Carson Show - he didn't smile if nothing was funny. I was so encouraged by that! But I still had to get on the Smile Bandwagon which, to me, worked if I remembered "Expose the teeth!" all the time.

That was especially true when I was working. But now I'm retired and I have no teeth just now. Nobody's asked me to smile in a long time. Now *that's* funny.

No, but I think it's because I look like the sort of person who'd flay someone and wear their face if they dared tell me to smile.

Oof, yes. Yes, I do (the hippies on Haight St., especially)
I reply: "Don't tell me what to do with my face."
I have been given s**t about flat vocal and facial affect my whole life.
Anyone else get told they sound like Ben Stein, or given s**t by strangers after an event because they didn't show enough expression?

^not by strangers that often: but I do get people I know thinking I haven’t enjoyed something I have... and my wife has to ask me to know if I’m happy/content/whatever... but I know I do expressions because I can feel the muscles moving about so it isn’t flat affect.
Apparently I’m “unreadable”.

(My usual criticism of my voice is I sound “posh” and “patronising” )

Precious lil "people's " statements to me:

"Be happy"
"Smile"
"Why are you smiling?"

Micromanaging control freaks ass holes

How about when they try to make you smile, like they're reverse-engineering a happy attitude, and you're already fine? This one "friend" tries this gotcha! game, as if he's experimenting on me.
I'm like... Yeah, nothing says "uplifting" like fake.
Micromanaging is right.

Preferred reply:

"Smile."
"Give me a reason to."

YES! Being cheered up when I’m already fine is one of the things that’s guaranteed to annoy me.

When I was younger ALL THE TIME!!