Judge People Everywhere. Even In A Supermarket

[ladypuglover]

I judge people. Mostly based on their clothing choices. I firmly believe that "house shoes" aka slippers should not be worn out of the house, and I will judge harshly those who do venture out in public with them on.

Uh oh, I would be in trouble then. I have a really bad back and some days I can wear any type of shoe in my closet and other days I can only must a pair of house shoes. I have had to wear slippers out in public before due to my back but I try really hard not to make them look like house shoes. I also have a pair of snow boots that look just like knitted slippers but are in fact winter boots. Now I know why everyone stares at my feet when I wear them. :lol:

Hey, I never have claimed to be a fashiontina. :snooty: I love my comfy wear.

[zandria]

What's a fundie doing quoting the lyricist for the Grateful Dead? :?

[chiccy]

What does an "expression of troubled self-absorption" even look like?

...This?

ETA: Ok, my image is not working. It was a picture of Franki.

[Hane]

When I was about 20, some random stranger gave me that "Why aren't you smiling?" line. I shot back, "Because my grandmother is dying and my supervisor is coming to observe me tomorrow.". That shut him up.

One of my Polish students told me that her relatives back home accused her of "looking American". Why? Because, they said, "You go around SMILING all the time!"

And, yeah, I use Prozac to flee suicide. Anyone who has a problem with that can bite my shorts.

[Wolfie]

When I was younger, I had a couple of men tell me that I would look so much prettier if I would smile. What? Why should I go around with a fake smile plastered on my face? And why would they feel entitled to make an unasked for comment on a stranger's appearance?

And you know what- until I got a front tooth fixed in this past year, I don't think I was any "Prettier" when I smiled. They think it's a complement, but it's very condescending.

[Wolfie]

Heck, yeah! There's a whole website devoted to judging people based on their clothing choices. (peopleofwalmart.com) but I don't know if anyone has tried to determine whether those people are happy or self-absorbed.

Lol, A friend ended up on there. Not for her clothing choices, but because her car broke down on the way home from an animal show, so all the critters in carriers had to be taken out of the car to get new tires put on.

[Crackedeggs]

I love "People of WalMart", cracks me up. I'm always on the lookout for candidates in my local Wallys, LOL.

I HATE the smile police. Some of my work puts me in contact with people who think you should keep a mirror on your desk at all times and make sure you are smiling while you are working. The only thing that these people inspire in me is a desire to crack them over the head with a bat.

[JesusFightClub]

I pull loads of faces and don't know I am doing it. I just have a mobile face. How annoying would it be to have some weirdo randomly check if you were smiling or not? What does it mean anyway. You could be feeling utterly content and not smile.

I once got written up at work for my facial expression. That was a bit weird. I feel for the shoppers, their entire lives judged by a glimpse of their faces.

[mirele]

Blargh...that's what happened to me the other day going into the Safeway. I didn't smile at the Salvation Army bell ringer and she snarkily said, "At least you could smile." After I realized what she'd said and that it was actually directed at me, I went out and gave her a piece of my mind. I don't need a representative of a "religious" anti-gay organization giving me crap just before Christmas because I didn't smile at her. Same goes for this stupid article.

ETA: I was on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman twice back in the 1980s. Both times I had a stupid, distant look on my face. It's just the way I am.

[Jezebel]

When I'm wandering the aisles of my neighborhood supermarket, I am not smiling. I may, in fact, even have an "expression of troubled self-absorption" on my face (I have no idea, but it's possible).

That's because half the time I've forgotten my list and am trying to remember everything I came to buy, and therefore do not have the brainwidth required for smiling. And even when I've remembered my list, I'm un-smiley because some head-office corporate geniuses (who obviously don't have to shop for their own groceries) have decided that constantly rearranging the store--so nothing is ever where it was the last time I bought it--is a brilliant idea. So yes, I am often troubled and absorbed in my own thoughts while in the supermarket, and not smiling.

And I notice his choice of adjectives to describe the shoppers he observed: "healthy, beautiful, and very expensively groomed." Now, granted, in San Francisco that can just as easily describe men as well as women, but somehow I suspect that better than 80% of the "people" he observed were, in fact, female people, which to a guy like this makes the lack of smiles even more egregious. Because women, especially if they're beautiful, are supposed to smile.

As for the Smile Brigade, I've only rarely had to deal with them, and that was mostly when I was in my early 20s (I do have kind of a "don't fuck with me" aura when I'm out in public, and generally get left alone by idiots and busybodies). The last time it happened was maybe five years ago, and when the told me, "You really ought to smile!" my instantaneous, wholly unpremeditated response was "You really ought to bend over and suck your own dick." The look of ABJECT HORROR on the dude's face was priceless, and I'm glad he scurried away as quickly as he could because I was having a very hard time keeping a poker face.

[synchroswimr]

Blargh...that's what happened to me the other day going into the Safeway. I didn't smile at the Salvation Army bell ringer and she snarkily said, "At least you could smile." After I realized what she'd said and that it was actually directed at me, I went out and gave her a piece of my mind. I don't need a representative of a "religious" anti-gay organization giving me crap just before Christmas because I didn't smile at her. Same goes for this stupid article.

ETA: I was on the front page of the Austin American-Statesman twice back in the 1980s. Both times I had a stupid, distant look on my face. It's just the way I am.

Seriously, the bell ringer said that?? Yipe! I would have given her a piece of my mind too. Ugh

[MamaJunebug]

For goodness sake, i thought sure this was gonna be about Steve Maxwell pontificating after having gone to the Leavenworth Safeway!

I always judge people. Especially in a supermarket. Are they gonna see me or ram their cart into mine? Is that lady gonna take the last bottle of 3-buck-merlot and ruin my day? Are those two arguing people creating a diversion for all the dimbulbs who've left their purses open and unattended in their shopping carts?

I'd say the guy who wrote that article needs more to do with his time. Who pays him to publish this stuff?

[Austin]

My sons and I have expressive faces, just like JFC mentioned. That's one reason we're such terrible liars - lol. So if someone saw me in the supermarket scowling, it may just be that I'm having a hard time trying to find a cereal with less than 5 grams of sugar per serving that doesn't taste like grass and twigs.

And can I say that I find the people who say, "Smile :!: " to be some of the most annoying people in the world and it's a good thing I'm not a violent person. When I'm thinking intently and some random person says that to me, I'd like to belt 'em.

[Vex]

"Fleeing suicide"? Would he prefer committing suicide?

I'm not a natural smiler either. It definitely doesn't mean I'm unhappy.

[Eclipse]

Sometimes I have a crappy day and I'm not happy but I still have to go grocery shopping. I do smile a lot, even at inappropriate times. In undergrad my friends all called me the smiling cynic. Why would most people smile when going grocery shopping? Most people will have other things going on in their lives that can influence their emotions, even while grocery shopping. its a chore, and even as a foodie, I don't always enjoy for my regular grocery shopping trip when I'm just shopping for myself.

I experience all of the range of human emotions and will sometimes not look happy, but I don't need to always be happy or sweet to validate my lifestyle and beliefs.

[thoughtful]

What does an "expression of troubled self-absorption" even look like?

I suspect, based on where he was people-watching, it looks rather like focusing on the shelves in order to find what's on one's shopping list.

What a stupid way to try to judge whether people are happy. :roll:

[CynicMom]

Generally people are happier when they don't have health problems. You find a lot more athletic looking people (as a %) in an organic market than a low-cost-discount-discount store. So I'd say that the triathletes at my local organic store are probably happier than the shop carts rolling around Aldis/Piggly Wiggly/Food Lion.

[Jessica]

How could you not smile when you're at a store called "Piggly Wiggly"?! ;)

[Deleted07]

I find that article pretty damn amusing... For one I worked at a supermarket for 7 years! and despite the fact that the management and big business side was idiotic, I personally enjoyed it and found the people and customers to be quite happy and talkative, especially if you are the same way first at initiating conversation... SO I really have no idea why he said he only ever saw 7 smiles in 11 months, and thinks 3 of them were insincere! Where the frick does this dude come off?

Secondly... I freely admit I am one of the prozac nation... zoloft actually but same difference! If it wasn't for zoloft I would be a depressed puddle in my bed and fact is it has indeed helped me flee suicide and ALSO search for my own happiness.

This dude is a freaking nutbag, talk about reading WAY too much into things!!!

[snarkbillie]

I furrow my brow a lot. I'm not angry or distraught. I'm often just thinking about random shit and that's how my face looks when I do that.

[SheWoreLemon]

Obviously we members of the Prozac Nation think "fleeing suicide" is a good idea, but this author thinks it's terribly inconvenient because it ruins his enjoyment. Right now his overall smile percentage at the grocery store is 7%, only 3% of which are sincere. But take away Prozac (about 45% of Americans on anti-depressants) and let the unworthy of us head 6 feet under--and suddenly his trip to the supermarket is so much more pleasant! Scads of shoppers smiled at him! And he found tons of parking spaces!

This reminds me of a men's rights website I went to--the owner was whining that the fats-rights movement was denying him of his "right" to beautiful thin women.

[goldennotebook]

Generally people are happier when they don't have health problems. You find a lot more athletic looking people (as a %) in an organic market than a low-cost-discount-discount store. So I'd say that the triathletes at my local organic store are probably happier than the shop carts rolling around Aldis/Piggly Wiggly/Food Lion.

They're probably also happier since they have the $$$ to go to Whole Foods and the free time to be triathletes!

[goldennotebook]

The whole "why don't you smile???" thing is so gendered, too. With a few exceptions, it's usually women who are told to smile. My value in life isn't to feign an emotion so you I look "pretty" to your liking, thank you.

[debrand]

The whole "why don't you smile???" thing is so gendered, too. With a few exceptions, it's usually women who are told to smile. My value in life isn't to feign an emotion so you I look "pretty" to your liking, thank you.

I agree. It used to offend me because there was no reason for some stronge person to tell me how I could look better. They would not have liked it if I walked up to them and expressed how nice they would look if they lost weight or pumped iron.

[Constance Vigilance]

Yup, the "smile" thing is an entitled, rude, sexist ploy to shape a complete stranger to your liking. I know someone who was told to "smile" while she was walking home from a funeral. How she didn't deck the guy I'll never know.

I now respond to a stranger saying "Smile!" with "Fuck off". It's just as rude, and it makes me feel a lot better. :D