Members of a popular internet forum rallied behind one woman whose quick thinking left a stranger sputtering and stammering in the middle of the street.
In a viral Reddit post published on r/pettyrevenge, Redditor u/Revolutionary_Ant209 (otherwise referred to as the original poster, or OP) said she was running errands when a random man informed her that she should appear more cheerful, sparking fury and an Oscar-worthy acting performance in the process.
Titled, “A stranger tells me ‘Smile, it could be worse.’ Instantly regrets it,” the post has received more than 15,000 upvotes and 1,500 comments in the last nine hours.
“As I was walking, I was going through my long to-do list in my head. I wasn’t frowning, I wasn’t smiling. My face was just in neutral,” OP began. “A man starts heading towards me. As we pass, he tells me, ‘Smile, it could be worse.'”
After being told to smile by a stranger, the original poster said she simply stopped and stared at the man. Then, she dropped a bombshell.
“I say, ‘My parents were in an accident. My mum died on impact. We’re turning off my dad’s life support tomorrow,'” OP wrote. “The guy looked like a robot being suddenly shut down….He looked like a deer in the headlights.”
Despite his greatest efforts to find the perfect response, the original poster said the man was speechless and eventually turned and walked away.
The original poster also said that her message to the stranger wasn’t the truth—both of her parents are fine and there was no accident. Still, however, her message was clear.
“It annoys me when people think they have the right to dictate how people are feeling,” OP wrote. “It’s unhelpful and patronizing.
“Imagine telling somebody who was just given a terminal diagnosis, ‘Smile, it could be worse,'” OP continued. “Or somebody who has lost a child, been laid off, or is otherwise struggling…?”
While smiles—ear-to-ear or more reserved—are usually welcome, being told to smile is a different story and often viewed as a sign of condescension and disrespect.
The practice of telling others to smile is also aimed predominantly at women.
Recently, data published by Inc. revealed that 98 percent of women reported being told to smile at work at some point in their lives.
In addition, 15 percent of women reported that these types of interactions happen on a weekly basis and have a direct impact on feeling underappreciated and disrespected within the workplace.
Although the seeming obsession with telling women to smile is…
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