I thought this was amusing. I am an American and I hate random smilers too!!!

[mogambo]

Smile...But Britons May Not Smile with You
1 hour, 8 minutes ago Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo!



LONDON (Reuters Health) - Smiling at strangers can be a thankless exercise in some British cities, where a survey has revealed the famous stiff upper lip is rarely likely to crack a grin in return.


Psychology students spent an hour smiling at 100 strangers in 14 British cities as part of the Comic Relief fundraising campaign, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.


Only 4% of people in Edinburgh, 12% in Nottingham and 18% in London returned the students' smiles.


On the other hand, the residents of Bristol smiled back 70% of the time, and 68% of Glasgow citizens were cheery enough to raise the corners of their mouths.


Pat Spungin, a psychologist who led the research, told the paper that social setting played a large role in smiling, which might explain why Londoners scored so low.


"With a population of 7 million, which is very mixed and very mobile, it is difficult to feel a sense of community with other Londoners," he said.

 

[kathryn]

The French, too, think that the American habit of smiling at people you don't know is very strange.

 

[clareMc]

RE: I thought this was amusing. I am an American and I ...

Well, the threat of a terrorist attack in the London Underground or anywhere in fact in London would definitely put a stop to friendly exchanges between strangers. I can quite understand. But then, I'm from London.....

You know the weird thing? 9 times out of 10 when you stop and ask someone directions in London they will tell you that they are an out-of-towner/foreigner too.

So just who are these "Londoners" they targeted with random and senseless acts of smiling?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

(and I'm tongue in cheek here, by the way, before I get accused of being the most humourless person who ever walked the planet }( )

Clare

 

[starbuck]

RE: I thought this was amusing. I am an American and I ...

Clare

I never smile I sometimes do laugh (depending on what I am reading) on the whole yes most Londoners are very unfriendly in town, terrorist threat or no terrorist threat (personally the general state of the underground is more of a worry).

I have yet to see random acts of smiling I will have to look out for some on my way home.

 

[willowe]

RE: I thought this was amusing. I am an American and I ...

Hi Guys,

Well, I live in Bristol in the UK and count myself as one of those 70%. In fact, I'll smile at anyone, me!! Does that make me a a "smiling tart"??!!.
:7
Kaz

 

[Jenne]

RE: I thought this was amusing. I am an American and I ...

I'm a smiler, too. The other options are to ignore the person or to glare, and I just can't bring myself to do that. The town I currently live in is a non-smiling town, so every time I go somewhere else, I'm surprised and grateful to get smiles in return.

 

[DebbieH]

Wow!

I never heard of such a thing! I can't imagine not being greeted MOST of the time with a smile! I don't undersand how one could NOT return a smile??? :7 :7 :7 :7
Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!

 

[mogambo]

RE: Wow!

It's just cultural. It doesn't mean you aren't friendly, it is often about respecting the other people's space. I grew up in the south and was always annoyed by all the gratuitous smiling and waving of total strangers. I moved to Michigan and was relaxed and relieved at just being able to walk around not interrupted. It's just a preference. I know the smilers are just doing what they think is nice. I don't glare or ignore them. If someone smiles at me, I smile, but I'd rather just pass each other with no interaction.

 

[DawnA]

RE: Wow!

Mogambo is absolutely right about the cultural aspect. My best friend lived in Orlando and then moved here to Michigan. She was used to walking into a store and having everyone greet her, make eye contact and smile. She was here for less than one week and went to the mall. To this day she remembers the experience in precise detail. She walked into JCPenney, bought a baby gift, had it gift wrapped, and never, not once, did anyone say anything to her except to tell her the price. Not a smile, no eye contact, nothing. She thought she had just moved to the most unfriendly place on the planet, and she wanted to go back to the south. She stuck it out, and is more tolerant of the midwestern reserve. I think people will speak to you if spoken to first, they're just a little wary of strangers. I love the south, they act like you're their best friend! I was a bit taken aback the first time it happened though! We have Walmart here now, new within the last year, and they have greeters at the front doors. I wonder how that's coming across?
Dawn

 

[Aquajock]

RE: North vs. South, Smile vs. Not

Interesting topic! I grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and moved to Minneapolis in 1984, and it was indeed a stark difference in culture; the Smiley-Floridian (which at the time felt really empty-headed) vs. the Midwestern-Reserve. Factor into that that my genetic heritage is Portugese, and we're all about as subtle as train wrecks, and you can imagine my reactions when nobody smiled back.

And beyond that, it sounds like America vs. Western Europe has the same differences, only more pronounced. I do remember when I spent a semester in college in London; I found that native Londoners were much slower to warm up to you but once they did, their friendship and humor was strong and unmistakeable.

Count me in as one of the smilers. I work with a lot of women who are recent immigrants to America - Somali, Hmong, Latina, Russian, Cambodian, what have you - and I encounter even more here in the Government Center. I have found a very positive response to a simple smile, as long as you don't hold them hostage to it.

A-jock