Posts
The Smirk
So life is not perfect. I have come to terms with that. We all have all kind of shit to deal with. We go through a long long day at work, go home looking forward to a good night's rest, only to be bombarded by disaster after the next.
We all have methods of dealing with our problems, some more successful than others, but we all work something out. This is how we get through life after all. The problem isn't having to deal with the problems exactly however. My main problem is having to go to work again the next morning.
It's bad enough dealing with all that life throws at you, the problem is pretending you're all right when at work. Now some people would jump and say "you don't need to pretend you're ok, everyone knows we all have our problems".
That statement is not true.
You see, as 'understanding' as people look, nobody will bear to deal with a person who shows up EVERYDAY sulky for a month or two. We're ready to deal with the occasional sulkiness of our fellow workers, but to a limited degree. Then there's the second problem, no matter how good you're performing at work, you will somehow end up being labeled as "under-performing" and will eventually get to hear a little lecture on "leaving your problems behind when you go to work" from a rather 'understanding' boss.
Bottom-line is you just can't afford to show your true feelings at work to your co-workers, even though that would be really comforting.
For that reason, people devise the perfect plan to counter this problem.
Imagine you have a horrible night (for any of the diverse reasons we have bad nights for) and go to work in one of those horrible moods. You go to the coffee machine to get some early morning coffee, or maybe you're going to pick some papers from the printer, and you get to meet a fellow worker.
That person, all bubbly and happy, gives you his most perfect smile and says "hey! How are you doing this lovely morning?!"
This is when we jump start the perfect plan into action. The smirk.
It is that beautiful wide smile you force on your face and you feel it's nearly ripping your face because it is so incredible fake but you still pass it on.
With the best smirk on your face you turn to your co-worker and go "Oh I'm feeling great today! It is indeed a lovely day!"
You mingle around a little at the coffee machine or the printer, then you turn around and go back to your room/workstation/cubicle. The moment you turn around you of course lose the annoying and face ripping smirk right away. Phew! Another well managed encounter. Now you can go back to sulking alone, in peace, happy to have managed to pull off the smirk. You can regain your energy now for the next time you're going to the bathroom or something.
At this point I'd like to point out that there is an incredibly high chance that your co-worker (the one you met at the coffee machine) was also putting on his lovely smirk. No matter how much we all 'love' (ahem ahem) our jobs, they are not exactly the place we feel all happy and bubbly in.
We all need to appreciate the power of the smirk. It is so powerful that everyone has at one stage or another practiced it. Some people get so good at it and adopt it that this is actually how they smile. These are the people you feel like you want to slap every time they smile (and don't tell me you've never felt that way!)
As a matter of fact, the smirk is being taught now! If you've ever taken a customer service training, chances are you were taught how to use the smirk by a rather professional smirker (probably one of those who have adopted it as their smiles.)
The smirk has become so incredibly widely adopted that everyone has formed his own trademark smirk. I am working hard on perfecting my own right now.
Meanwhile, let me share some wonderful smirks with you now!
Either a really bad smirker, or a beginner. Only time will tell the potential of this one here.
We all have methods of dealing with our problems, some more successful than others, but we all work something out. This is how we get through life after all. The problem isn't having to deal with the problems exactly however. My main problem is having to go to work again the next morning.
It's bad enough dealing with all that life throws at you, the problem is pretending you're all right when at work. Now some people would jump and say "you don't need to pretend you're ok, everyone knows we all have our problems".
That statement is not true.
You see, as 'understanding' as people look, nobody will bear to deal with a person who shows up EVERYDAY sulky for a month or two. We're ready to deal with the occasional sulkiness of our fellow workers, but to a limited degree. Then there's the second problem, no matter how good you're performing at work, you will somehow end up being labeled as "under-performing" and will eventually get to hear a little lecture on "leaving your problems behind when you go to work" from a rather 'understanding' boss.
Bottom-line is you just can't afford to show your true feelings at work to your co-workers, even though that would be really comforting.
For that reason, people devise the perfect plan to counter this problem.
Imagine you have a horrible night (for any of the diverse reasons we have bad nights for) and go to work in one of those horrible moods. You go to the coffee machine to get some early morning coffee, or maybe you're going to pick some papers from the printer, and you get to meet a fellow worker.
That person, all bubbly and happy, gives you his most perfect smile and says "hey! How are you doing this lovely morning?!"
This is when we jump start the perfect plan into action. The smirk.
It is that beautiful wide smile you force on your face and you feel it's nearly ripping your face because it is so incredible fake but you still pass it on.
With the best smirk on your face you turn to your co-worker and go "Oh I'm feeling great today! It is indeed a lovely day!"
You mingle around a little at the coffee machine or the printer, then you turn around and go back to your room/workstation/cubicle. The moment you turn around you of course lose the annoying and face ripping smirk right away. Phew! Another well managed encounter. Now you can go back to sulking alone, in peace, happy to have managed to pull off the smirk. You can regain your energy now for the next time you're going to the bathroom or something.
At this point I'd like to point out that there is an incredibly high chance that your co-worker (the one you met at the coffee machine) was also putting on his lovely smirk. No matter how much we all 'love' (ahem ahem) our jobs, they are not exactly the place we feel all happy and bubbly in.
We all need to appreciate the power of the smirk. It is so powerful that everyone has at one stage or another practiced it. Some people get so good at it and adopt it that this is actually how they smile. These are the people you feel like you want to slap every time they smile (and don't tell me you've never felt that way!)
As a matter of fact, the smirk is being taught now! If you've ever taken a customer service training, chances are you were taught how to use the smirk by a rather professional smirker (probably one of those who have adopted it as their smiles.)
The smirk has become so incredibly widely adopted that everyone has formed his own trademark smirk. I am working hard on perfecting my own right now.
Meanwhile, let me share some wonderful smirks with you now!
Either a really bad smirker, or a beginner. Only time will tell the potential of this one here.
Priceless smirk!
Typical idiot smirker!
I don't know what to make of that smirk. It just leaves me speechless. How can someone use such a stupid smirk -and get away with it - is beyond me!
Meet George W. Bush. I personally think of him as the king of all smirkers. He's had that smirk on his face for so long, it's genuinely built into his features now.What kind of smirker are you?
Dude, and I wondered how in the world you manage to keep smiling aaall the timeeeeeee! i actually gave some serious thought to running a poll on who is the most cheerful person at the workplace [which does *not* by the way have a coffee-machine] - and I was sure you'd come out on top!
ReplyDeleteand now i am to hear that it's mostly smirkafication! =O *petrified*
but, honestly, you don't have to be mr. pepsodent/colgate/sensodyne all the time. just come to our office, we have plenty of non-smirking "fun" and i've only occasionally hear "what a lovely day" (and i heard plenty of the opposite) and we'd be happy to let you know when we want you to go away. ayya khidma tannya ya basha?
homer van doh
aaah homer van doh! The looooovely Chitra thinks I'm the most cheerful person in the office!
ReplyDeleteI'm genuinely flattered! :D
(P.S. The arabic in the end...TOTALLY blows me away :P)
I agree with anon- u r always so cheerful. Now I know- u were just 'smirking' :-p Hang in there- from the lil I know bout u, I know optimism is ur natural tendency & u can bounce ur way chirpily out of anything. Keep smiling
ReplyDeleteBeing a smirk works like a magnet by which every one is attracted to you thinking that you are the happiest person walked on this planet and that you are free of all worldly fears and troubles.
ReplyDeleteIt worked for me for a while though it made me feel lonely like hell because once a smirk opens up and clear out his chest from some pain, the grumpy face sticks on his face and cant get back to the old smirk he sued to be.
Sometimes smirks are fun to be around but then again I remember a smirk I knew in college, he was just happy go lucky all the time and I knew it deep inside that he was suffering so much but he didn’t show it. I know he had to pay the price of being a smirk when he ended up with no one to share his problems because everyone around thought he would never ever be troubled by anything.
Answering your question: what kind of smirks am I?
Wise smirk
(i.e. a smirk who puts the funny face with those who don’t deserve to sail through my soul to discover my fears and worries)
- Silly Ellie
awwal 7a3ga, you have a problem with my arabic? vot iz ze broplem?
ReplyDeleteand awwal 7a3aga tanniya, you don't give away my name on a blogspot! :PPPPPPPPPPPPPP
you know who (and now the whole world does too)
You are so right.... How I hate that smirk! It's even worse for me because I'm boss :( If I'm depressed I'd depress everybody else around me too and they'll feel uncomfortable working.
ReplyDeleteOne more point is that sometimes you just have to put it on to avoid the hassle of being asked what's wrong, and this doesn't only apply to work. Sometimes it's just something private and you don' want to share it, but unless you put on your happy mask, then you will spend your whole day dodging nosey questions inquiring into the nature of your depression. And the persistence can be nerve wrecking!
But I agree with you. We're all ok with putting up with a few days of depression, but if you show your true feelings for a whole month people will hate you, label you depressing, always jump to wrong conclusions about how ti affects your work.. etc. And no matter how much people deny this, it is the truth. If you don't believe me, try it yourself. Not only colleagues, but even your friends will get bored of you. That's just the way people are. They can't put up with too much depression, they have their own to worry about so someone who is always gloomy just reminds them of all the bad things, and that is tough to bear all the time.
What type of smirk am I? hrmm.... Depends on how well I manage to ignore my problem. Sometimes I am "cheerful smirk", which is not so much a smirk but a big wide smile, and I avoid all conversation. Sometimes i'm just "annoyed smirk", basically 'ok, you're annoying, but I smiled anyway, so get lost'.