The other day I was walking across campus and for whatever reason, I was feeling down. We’ve all had those days when nothing seems to go your way and you just don’t have it in you to be cheerful. A guy walked up to me and said, quite loudly, “Smile!” Even though I had no desire whatsoever to smile, I smiled. It was just an instinctive reaction. It wasn’t until later that evening that I realized this annoyed me.

Sure, I get that this is Oklahoma and a smile is expected – no, required – as you walk by someone on the street. I get that smiling at someone is a way of being polite, and I usually do smile at everyone I see. But sometimes you just don’t have it in you to smile, so why should you be forced to?

Guys are never harassed into smiling as they walk down the street. After this happened, I mentioned it to a couple of my guy friends and they had no idea what I was talking about because they had never been harassed into smiling. Granted, this does not cover the entirety of the male gender, but I have never witnessed this happening to a guy, and it’s only guys that command me to smile.

Why should I have to smile at someone else when I’m not feeling like smiling? If I don’t smile, I’m called names not to be repeated in polite company or I’m not left alone until I give in. Guys will ask, “Why won’t you smile? What’s bothering you?” It gets to the point where I have to smile to get them to walk away. If I do smile, however, I’ll just go home and end up feeling icky and annoyed with myself. It’s a lose-lose situation.

This wasn’t the first time this has happened to me and I have no doubt this will continue to happen to me and other girls. At the end of the day, though, I would much rather be annoyed with another person than be disappointed with myself. So no, I will not smile. Have a nice day!