Why Russians Do Not Smile At You

Taco · Post by **Taco** » February 9th, 2014, 4:04 pm

If you've ever been to Eastern Europe or Russia the first thing you notice is how serious everyone is.

Why Russians Do Not Smile At You
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.com/2014 ... t-you.html

Post by **fschmidt** » February 9th, 2014, 4:23 pm

Sounds great, I hate fake smiles.

Hero · Post by **Hero** » February 9th, 2014, 4:25 pm

I agree about the "American smile": totally fake and deceptive. I get tired of having to smile and laugh and act like I'm having a good time 24/7.

***JP*** · Post by ***JP*** » February 9th, 2014, 7:36 pm

Here in Lithuania people don't smile at strangers period. Most Lithuanians only smile at you when they get to know you and see you are a genuine person without bad intentions. In my first time here I thought most people were rude but then I began to understand once my friends here told me about it. In a way I consider it my detox from the matrix.

?????? · Post by **??????** » February 9th, 2014, 7:40 pm

So they only smile when they have something genuinely to so smile or laugh about. It makes perfect sense. I don't smile much either unless I have a great day or found something funny. Whenever I have to fake a smile for a family picture, it feels forced. To the average Russian, smiling Americans probably look like the Joker or The Ghastly Grinner from Are You Afraid of the Dark?
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... rinner.gif

I also don't understand the hallow"Are you having a great day?" question at checkout counters in the US since they really don't care if you are having a good day or not. The only time I take it serious is when family or friends ask me. A message for cashiers: Don't say "Are you having a great day?" if you don't mean it.

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » February 9th, 2014, 8:55 pm

Renata · Post by **Renata** » March 3rd, 2014, 5:23 pm

Places like Phillipines, India & Turkey the people are always smiling or grinning. They will not do well in Russia especially the pinays & pinoys.

Inter2002 · Post by **Inter2002** » March 8th, 2014, 8:01 pm

Well the real reason why Russians don't smile is because of the impact that communism had in the former Soviet Union amongst its people, including other former USSR countries as well.
That's one of the reasons why alcoholism is so prevalent in Eastern block countries.

Wolfeye · Post by **Wolfeye** » March 8th, 2014, 9:23 pm

A few places are like that, actually. I remember an Irish guy's post on America & one of the things he mentioned was that people were always saying "You never smile." He reasoned that at least when he smiled, you knew it was a real smile. Another thing he mentioned was that massive amount of advertisements on T.V. (I think he made specific additional reference to all the medical commercials).

That article in the link is shockingly like me. One time when I was in high school, I was in a good mood & walking down the hall. A friend of a friend that I got along with too asked "Hey, are you alright?" And I said "Yeah, why do you ask?" And he said "You looked like you were going to f***ing kill somebody." Maybe it's a slavic thing?