Monday, July 16, 2007 Seares: Not smiling at Capitol By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
WHAT is being punished at the Capitol, discourtesy or not smiling? One may not smile and yet not be boorish. And one may smile and yet be as rude as one can get.
Capitol planners must have read or heard these about the smile:
“You’re never fully dressed until you put on a smile. It’s the lighting system of the face and the heating system of the heart. The light in the window of your face that tells people you’re at home. The shortest distance between two people. A face-lift you can perform yourself and guaranteed to improve your appearance.”
And so on: loads of words extolling virtues of smiling. No dispute over the merits of a smile.
Yet, if not smiling is itself an offense, what cruel and unusual punishment on an employee from whom getting a smile is tougher than extracting a stubborn tooth.
And there are many such workers: big on courtesy and helping others but stingy on smiles.
Synthetic
I know. Fewer muscles to smile, 26, and lots more to frown, 62. (Hey, how the heck did they count them?)
A smile cannot be forced. There’s this journalist-friend whose heroic attempt at smiling is flashing all her teeth, with the rest of her face and her eyes sullen or, on good days, blank.
That’s what compulsion, in the form of unforgiving memos and unblinking spy cameras, can produce: synthetic smiles.
Let the smile come unbidden. Or induce it with moratorium on scolding and fat bonus topped with, say, free food. (News reporters get free lunch from Governor Gwen even without smiling, why don’t Capitol workers?)
So, this request for bill of particulars: What are Capitol bosses punishing—being rude or not smiling?
