(Don't) Smile like you mean it

Europeans have a tendency to tell Americans that we smile too much.  And if the average American smiles too much, a person from the American South smiles entirely too much. 

When I was working in the U.S., a non-Southern colleague of mine once asked me, “Amber, every time I see you, you are smiling.  Why are you always smiling so much?” I of course answered, “I’m from Georgia.  I’m pretty sure it’s a law.”

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And well, if in Europe people think Americans are insincere because of their smile, in India people just think it’s simply bizarre and entertaining.  

Hailing from a place where you not only smile at people that you pass on the street but also ask strangers how they are doing, not smiling here in India was a survival skill I toiled to master.

In the first few weeks, I consciously reminded myself not to smile at passersby who already thought that I was crazy simply because I did things like wait in lines and use forks.  I quickly learned that I did not want to call any extra attention to myself and learned how to walk - head forward, aware but not surveying, confident, straight-faced:

Except for the occasional chats with adorable piglets (or monkeys or dogs) and a stray smile at a cute kid, I have become pretty good at this whole restrained-emotions-in-public thing.

However, every once in a while I will forget, just for a moment, where I am.  I’ll be walking down the street and I’ll smile at someone… and then immediately realize and regret that I did so.  Usually, I can just keep walking, avoid the staring, and ignore the guy who thought that that was somehow an invitation to walk me home – oops. 

I dare you not to smile.

But once, it nearly cost me my life… ok, fine – it nearly cost me a concussion, anyway:

Several months ago, I was walking home from work and I passed by a man who just seemed perfect. 

He was a smallish, older man who had a fantastical-curled mustache and beard, bright eyes, and a cheerful aura – he was the type of person you simply want to offer a more-than-genuine smile to. 

And I did.

And he, in bewildered and delighted response, spun toward me as I continued to pass by and offered an exuberant, “Hello Madam!”

The other “perfect” thing about this man, though, was that he was standing effortlessly with a long steel bar on his shoulders.   As he swung around, forgetting his load in his excitement, the steel bar came directly at my head and I had to duck to avoid being hit like a Looney Tunes character.

Word to the wise – keep that neutral face on in the streets of India.

Another Indian Life Lesson, I suppose: We Americans do smile too much; it can clearly be a hazard to our lives.

Even still, it was a pretty perfect moment. Kind of like this one: