In college, I worked a part-time job (like thousands of other young people) as a cashier at a grocery store in order to help me pay rent.

There was never a time when I was rude to or impatient with a customer and I was always willing to help them answer questions and find items. If they broke some eggs or spilled some soda, my goal was always to make them feel like it wasn't a big deal and to overcome any embarrassment. I scanned as fast and accurately as I could because I knew how badly they probably wanted to get their groceries home and put away so they can finally relax. In other words, I was pretty empathetic to the customer.

Also, it should be noted that my hours were often in the evenings; I would sometimes work until 10:30, usually after a full day of classes and homework. During my time as a student, I was chronically sleep deprived, anxious and tired (obviously.) I never used this as an excuse to do a poor job but it was definitely an obstacle.

Despite my efforts to do my job well, there were still times when customers felt the need to criticize me because I didn't smile at them.

You're probably thinking, "Wow, that's dumb."

You're right.

Of course, I never glared or frowned at them either. I was polite. I greeted them. I was nice and friendly. But apparently, that wasn't enough for some people. Some customers felt disgruntled and offended because I didn't plaster a wide grin across my face like �damn clown.

Telling someone to smile is rude as hell.

When you say, "You should smile more!" or "Put a smile on your face!," what you're really saying is, "I don't care about how you actually feel; I would just prefer if you had a smile on your face because it would make me feel more comfortable." It seems as though smiling all the time, regardless of how we actually feel on the inside, has become an expectation within our culture. I think that's really unhealthy.

There were a handful of times during my time as a cashier when customers would be truthful about how they are doing. I would ask them how their day is going and they would say, "Honestly? I'm exhausted. It's been a long day and I can't wait to get home." They made me feel like it was okay to be honest when they asked me the same question. These kinds of interactions are authentic. They're sincere and honest. They're the kinds of interactions that actually make me want to smile

.

Growing up, I always heard that dumb saying that goes, "It takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile!"

I have no idea if that's true, but I do know this:

It takes zero muscles to not have a facial expression at all. And as tired as I often was while working there late in the evening, I don't feel bad for not smiling.