Indeed, it’s often said to be good to smile at people (in certain countries*), though I’ve never put the minimal effort into implementing this, not being a natural smiler.
I would not be surprised if adopting the habit of forcing a smile, which might soon come naturally, is an extremely easy win - to the extent of improving the course of the smiler’s life significantly. Both by improving interactions, and because psychology says acting a certain way (eg feigning happiness or extroversion) induces it in oneself.
(*Whereas in some former Soviet countries, smiling is considered a sign of being a fool or weirdo. E.g. before the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia, hosting staff were trained on how to interact with foreign visitors, including smiling. After this training course, one staff member tried walking down the street smiling at people, but was promptly stopped by police and questioned for suspicious behaviour.)
5+1
And gosh… this is just what it was like growing up in a small rural town in the Netherlands. I was shocked when I moved to the city and people didn’t all greet me back and smile. I am guessing I am still comparatively trained to smile and greet strangers as if I am going to meet them regularly for the rest of my life and that seems like a good thing tbh.
1It may seem creepy to some, but I didn't read it that way. It's a fairly common and old phrase (the wiktionary entry is over 10 years old) and to me it doesn't have any sexualizing connotations, or other connotations I'd associate with being creepy. I'll grant you that it's vulgar, but do you see it as any creepier than any other vulgar phrase?
i found the joke out of tone in this piece, and not funny enough to justify the offense. (indeed, the only "humor" is the shock value.) i believe the writing would be stronger without it.
to flip the question around: what does the vulgarity add, for you? why does this essay need vulgarity?
It is one of several early morning expressions employed in Britain. Others include, 'The crack of bird fart', or Sparrow's fart, or 'Up with the larks and down with the mucking out.' Note in Britain we'd typically say the 'arse' crack of dawn. As a marathoner, the phrase perfectly captures for me the sensibilty of early morning distance training runs.
At the ass crack of dawn, in the dark and foggy mist, thousands of people converged on my location, some wearing short shorts, others wearing an elf costume and green tights.
I was volunteering at a marathon. The race director told me the day before, “these people have trained for the last 6-12 months for this moment. They’ll be waking up at 3am. For many of them, this is the first marathon they’ve ever run. When they get off the bus at 5am, in the freezing cold, you’ll be the first face they see. Smile, welcome them, make them feel excited, and help them forget the next 26.2 miles of pain they’re about to endure.”
Even though I normally have RBF and consider it a chore to acknowledge people, I slapped a big fat smile on my face and excitedly greeted runners like I was a golden retriever who hasn’t seen his military dad in over a year.
“HELLO!”
“GOOD MORNING!”
“YOU’RE HERE!”
^That, on repeat for two hours straight. It was actually pretty fun. I calculated the optimal distance to stand from the bus was eight feet away. Stand too close, and the runners were still descending the bus steps and didn’t have time to process my presence. Stand too far away, and they assumed I was just some overly enthusiastic volunteer having a borderline religious experience.
Once I optimized the greeting distance, I observed people’s reactions to me fell into four different categories:
“I AM HERE, YEAH! LET’S GO!!!”
Like the Kool-Aid man, “OHHH YEAHHHH!!!”
“YEAHHH!!!”
“AGHHHHHHHHHHH.”
“AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”
After the marathon for the rest of the day, I found myself smiling and greeting other people I encountered: at a restaurant for lunch, and at the coffee shop where I’m writing this. I smiled at every stranger I made eye contact with, and every one of them smiled back (with one of the four reactions I listed). It just happened naturally, and it felt amazing. I think it made them feel good, too. That’s why we love golden retrievers—they love and greet us unconditionally.