Are we obligated to smile to someone we know all the time?
By jadoixa
@jadoixa (1166)
Philippines
March 20, 2013 10:49am CST
do you or would you consider smiling all the time to someone who knows you and whom you know even if you are not that close every time they see you or you see them. I know some people who knows me and i know them too but not all of the time they will stop to notice or smile at me just because they know me. do you think it is bad if we cannot smile at them or are we really obligated to smile?
1 person likes this
7 responses
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
20 Mar 13
You are not obligated to do anything if you don't feel to. Personally, I am always glad to meet friends, relatives and or other people who I know, so the smile comes naturally. Of course, there are times when one cannot stop and greet back, to have a little chit-chat, but that is okay, I believe.
1 person likes this
@Raine38 (12250)
• United States
20 Mar 13
I don't think one should be obligated to smile. Because if one is doing it just for the heck of doing it, the other person will see that the smile is fake and it might even drive away the people who are really nice enough to be friends with you.
1 person likes this
@nenyalorien (899)
• Philippines
9 Apr 13
Hi Jadoixa,
Honestly, I personally prefer not needing to smile at somebody I recognize by face, such as a dorm- or board-mate. However, if it's someone I met at church or at work, I won't mind needing to smile at them. :)
@jadoixa (1166)
• Philippines
23 Mar 13
recently, one close friend and office mate of my sister saw me in school as i was sending my daughter to school..and she talk to my sister about why i didn't smile at her..that i should have smiled at her..and it's not like i see her face to face or we made eye contact for me to be ale to smile at her..i know and recognize her so maybe when we cross paths face to face and she looked me directly in the eye i could nod or smile back at her..but that didn't happened so it's not like i am obligated to please her or anyone that i must smile at them all the time or have a smile ready or a smile always plastered on my face so when i see them it's ready for everyone..i mean, it's not going to happen all the time..so i was surprise..she was really bothered about that she had to tell my sister about it..
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
21 Mar 13
I am not sure if "obligated" is the right word for it. But I do not feel like smiling all the time to people whom I just know by face. There are neighbors I have that I just refuse to see eye to eye, so I do not need to smile. Is it bad? Kinda, right? But I just couldn't be smiling all the time. But if it were close friends, well, it would be more than just a smile. There would be hi's and hello's and probably a hug or a kiss in the cheek.
@jadoixa (1166)
• Philippines
23 Mar 13
yes, also i can see other people who knows me but they don't always smile and take time to smile at me and i understand that is fine., after all we are not that close. or sometimes we are not aware that person who knows us are there so we cannot smile at them unless they poke us and so we nod or smile at them.
@cgalavia (1436)
• Philippines
14 Apr 13
Great SMILE,Great day!
For me,I do smile to people whom i know a lot,I even smile to people who seems to know me even though i don't know them,This is just only means I am being friendly. A simple smile reflects your personality, reflects of what kind person are you and motivates you for being a calm person.But of course, not everyone else are oblige to smile,and its not bad if we don't smile because there are odd times that we are in a complicated situation and it's really hard to smile.To sum up,whenever everything is good, just Smile as you can.
@squallming (1775)
• Malaysia
30 Mar 13
I don't think we are obligated to smile at people all the time. Of course it is advisable to do so as smiling makes the world a better place. But that is only applicable when we smile from the bottom of our heart, which is a sincere friendly expression to bring people closer to one another. I always smile to people even though sometimes they did not seem to have noticed. I would only stop smiling to people if they showed a sign of getting annoyed. Anyway, it is totally your choice to make whether you want to smile or not. 
