Who is There Lurking Behind That Smile?
Doris Willis
Composition 2 – 1004
Professor MacD
January 23, 2014

Who is There Lurking Behind That Smile?
What do smiles truly reveal about the people wearing them? Daily we interact with people who mingle in the crowd amongst us appearing to be happy. While hearing the six o’clock evening news, we are emotionless to the news of a co-worker taking their life; their family reveals how flustered they had been since their marriage fell in shambles. Never taking the time to recognize these individuals’ pain, they design a tragic end. Let us take a minute to understand another tragedy. Why is it, a little girl only smiles and never speaks? In addition, keeps to herself much of the time. Once the news gets around the community, child protective services have her in their care. Doctors report the violation to the proper authority to uncover the dirty deeds of another. Think about the little boy who hits a home run, looks over his shoulder, and exchanges a smile with his dad for his approval. We see them everywhere. People of all ages and lifestyles wear smiling face. The Temptations sing a song penned by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, “Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes they don't tell the truth. Smiling faces, smiling faces, tell lies, and I've got proof” (Sing365, 2020).
We teach people to fake it and put on a happy face. Jilly Welch, a writer for People Management points out, requiring staff to appear happy and enthusiastic at work amounts to nothing more than emotional exploitation by employers, psychologists claim. Employees faking their emotions to please their managers could be heading for physical and mental exhaustion (1997, p. 15). Research says wearing a happy face can improve moods if genuine. So how can we know, in fact, we are seeing a genuine smile? Alison Caporimo a writer for Allure mentions Marianne LaFrance, a Yale University psychology instructor, research shows in authentic smiles the cheeks rise and crow's feet surface around the corners of ones’ eyes. For a bogus smile, only the mouth is participating, with no eye movement. Genuine smiles come onto the face in a relaxing fashion and stay a few seconds. Unlike a fake smile, it seems to snap on and linger too long," (2011, p. 96). There is good reason to be uneasy about the fake smile. As of Aug. 2012, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) reports that suicide accounted 4,600 deaths for those between the ages of 10-24 year olds. This ranks suicide as the third leading cause of death. The same article states that even more people in that same age bracket did attempt suicide but failed. The CDC has yet to release statistics for this year (UWIRE, 2014). Watch someone and examine his or her smile, is the smile phony or is it real?
Alright, recall engaging in a conversation with someone and out of nowhere is this “Condescending Smile” yes, the smile that comes across as a little smirk. It has a negative connotation that faintly displays an attitude of I am better than most. Look I am smiling, but move on; because I am from the privileged society. These people have inflated egos. They walk around as if they are superior and full of themselves. They are arrogant, deluded, uncaring, and cold. They live in fancy gated communities ready to welcome others into their homes; however, only during emergencies do commoners suddenly attain the attach importance to enter their private doors. Think twice when facing the “Condescending Smile” who views everyday people as nothing-special, but only commonplace citizens gaining value when they have need of their services.
The people wearing the “Dog Smile” prey on those who cannot protect themselves. Sadly, their intentions are less than honorable, yet, they are abusers of the innocent, who lock themselves into a personal prison; where those who are to be trusted cannot find a key. They appear to fit in the crowd