Woman's Story Of How She Lied Just To Teach Stranger Not To Seek Smiles From Women Has Others Sharing Theirs

"Smile, it could be worse." Really?

Maryjane

• Published in Interesting
• August 26, 2022

Imagine you're going about your day, finishing errands, listening to music, or trying to figure out what you can't remember because you're sure you forgot something, and someone tells you to smile. Even if you're feeling upbeat, the last thing you want to do in this situation is smile.

This Redditor, Revolutionary_Ant209, shared how she not only didn't want to smile, but she also put the man who ordered her to smile in a bad mood by making up a story about a huge tragedy in her life, which left the intruder speechless and depressed as well. She simply desired retaliation against the man who had irritated her by telling her to smile on a particularly difficult day.

The original poster posted her story on the Petty Revenge subreddit, where people can celebrate minor victories over those who have wronged them. She stated that she was strolling and thinking about the things she still needed to do as well as what she could by now check off her to-do list.

She described her face as neutral, implying that she wasn't smiling but also wasn't frowning. In reality, who goes about smiling when they are rushing to complete errands?

The man in this you-must-smile scenario assumed the woman needed cheering up or wanted a woman to smile at him, so the only thing he could think of was, "Smile, it could be worse."

More info: Reddit

Woman Shares How She Had To Lie To A Stranger To Teach Him Not To Require Smiles From Women

Here we go...

Smile, it could be worse

I stop and stare

He shuttered and stammered

According to the original poster, the man was patronising and commanding, as if she were a dog. It was particularly vexing, especially given that she had previously received such remarks.

So she decided to teach the man a lesson and quickly imagined a scenario in which no one would walk around smiling.

There was no accident

Woman makes a man regret telling her to smile

Redditors thought the woman used the right tactics and shared their own experiences and feelings about being told to smile. Scroll down to read more of what they had to say.

1. Tell me about your weird day

2. Why don't you smile, honey?

3. A weird kind of emotional gatekeeping

4. I have never lost my temper

5. You are doing God's work

6. I wish I had a comeback

7. Try not to look so miserable

8. Am I correct in this?

9. Don't tell people to smile, just smile at them

10. Loosing a close family member is tough

11. Toxic Positivity

Revolutionary_Ant209 revealed that she receives such comments on a regular basis, though not every week. And clearly, redditors are revealing similar stories.

There's still more to see below so keep scrolling...

12. Exactly!

13. He should gain a valuable lesson

14. Perfectly happy but not smiling

15. Don't command me to smile

16. They have good intentions

17. We can't be happy all the time

18. Where's their mother?

19. It can't be that bad

20. Watch this, it'll make you happy

21. They started it all up again

22. I never shopped there again

23. Showing off my back teeth

24. You'd be prettier if you smiled

It's obvious that being told to smile when you don't feel like it isn't fun. However, it appears that it is more difficult to explain to those who make those demands how hurtful and disrespectful such language is than to simply create the worst scenario possible to make them feel bad for even speaking to you.

How do you feel when you're told to smile, and how often does it happen? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Maryjane