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Categories: Feedback
Be careful: there is a latent oppression in asking an affronted person to smile.
It says you see the person confronting you as a threat. A smile is not merely a friendly gesture: showing the teeth without opening the jaw asserts that one is not planning to attack because one fears to be attacked by a larger creature. When you demand that someone smile, you are asserting dominance — as if you are asking that the other person sheathe a sword while you keep yours out.
Look at the situation from the customer’s side: he is annoyed that the 210 bus is late. Smiling would negate this annoyance: “Yay, I’m going to be punished for being late!”
He is asking you to be responsible. In return you are asking that he perform a task for you, a task that historically suggests that he perform for you.