Ah, my problem isn't with smiling. I'd rather laugh than cry, given the choice, that's my culture and my personality, but there's a limit. Like the rest of us, if I really do not feel like laughing, I do not appreciate being told to "smile", especially because some guy feels threatened that my first concern isn't over putting a strain on his eyes. secon, I resent other women assuming that my first concern in this world should always be grimacing like an empty faced babboon when my heart is elasewhere. My mother is always first to snap "Thats no what I'm asking you to do!"
My response is "when I don't really have joy in that smile, lady, than that is exactly what I'm doing." I am not on this planet to be window dressing for someones else's illusion of how the world should be. If that's what they want, then they should go work at disney land.