If I had a dollar for every time I was told I had "RBF," or a resting bitch face, then I wouldn't be such a poor college kid. People come up to me and say, "You looked so mad in class today," or, "Yeah, you looked mad so I didn't talk to you." My personal favorite is when people see that I actually am a nice person and we become friends. Then they say, "Before I got to know you, I thought you were such a bitch." Thanks, I guess? Dealing with an RBF is sometimes hard to handle. So I have some things to say about it to maybe change your mind about people with RBFs.

One extremely important thing is that I can't help it. I am an open book, you can read every emotion that I am experiencing by the look on my face. But when I am busy, distracted, eating, in class, walking, listening to music, reading, and tons of other things where I am not particularly feeling a lot of emotion, I look like a bitch. I realize this mainly because everybody always tells me. Even when I am feeling good and I think I'm smiling or look happy, my face doesn't properly cooperate.

Another thing to try and keep in mind before judging me based on my resting bitch face is that I actually am I nice person. I try to be friendly to all people, I love animals, I volunteer, I have a big heart (I swear, I really do). I'm not a mean person. So before you judge me based on how I look when I don't realize you are there, TALK TO ME! It's that easy. As soon as you say "Hi," to me, or even if I see you smile and wave to me, then like magic, the resting bitch face melts away.

Lastly, I would rather face the consequences of having an RBF than walk around fake smiling to please everybody else. Who is truly happy when they are walking to math class? Nobody. it's all an act, believe me. So instead of painting on a smile to avoiding being called a bitch, I will be embracing my RBF and staying true to who I am. I am not happy all the time, nor will I pretend to be happy all the time. I am going to be who I am, and if the angry look on my face pushes you away from being my friend, then that is your loss, honestly. But to those who are willing to speak to me and overlook my resting bitch face, then I would love to show you the real and nice person behind the face you see.