I’d love to know why any man thinks its appropriate to tell me to smile. Maybe I don’t want to smile.
In fact, if I’m *not* smiling, it’s probably because I DO NOT WANT TO SMILE. *Sigh*
I read Thought Catalog’s“10 Obnoxious Cat Calls,” and had a dose of realization.
There’s a security guard where I work who asks me almost every day, “Hey, gimme a smile,” or “Life’s not so bad. Smile.” I feel like this type of commentary at work is towing the line of sexual harassment. When I read the Though Catalog article, I started to think, yeah, this is kind of a cat-call! In the past, I’ve just glared at the guy or completely ignored him, but maybe I shouldn’t be so timid.
What do you think? Is this a type of harassment or should I lighten up?
imashleymi.com 
In general, I think it’s annoying for a stranger – man or woman – to tell me what to do.
A dear friend of mine, in her brilliance, put it in this way. When someone says, “You know what you should do?”, the best answer is , “Yes.” Nothing more. Most people take the hint.
With this “smile” demand, it’s even more obnoxious because it *seems* like a kind thing at first, but it isn’t always. I mean, I *love* smiling. Smiling actually *is* my favourite. I smile a LOT. If *I* am not smiling there is absolutely, 100%, a reason. My reason. Not anyone else’s.
Also, it is tricky in this case because people are easily offended and perhaps they think “Please don’t tell me to smile.” means “Please don’t be nice to me.”, but that’s because they are stupidheads and really, in the end, you don’t need everyone to be your new BFF. 🙂
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It makes me uncomfortable when someone asks me to smile, lighten up, whatever. Like you, I’m a pretty smile-y person – I’m almost always upbeat. When women say it, I feel totally comfortable responding – “I ran out of smiles today,” – but I really don’t want a strange man’s attentions, so I’ll often smile and shuffle away. (With my keys between my fingers, in a fist.)
And I LOVE YOUR SMILE AND YOU. xo
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Keys in fist like shabby weapon? Yeah. That’s a signature move of mine, too.
I love your smile, too. 😀
But I’ll never demand it. That’s just rude!
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stabby*
Obviously.
As in, “Autocorrect makes me stabby.” 😛
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