No smiley guy

Posted on by Felipe Zapata

RECENTLY I POSTED a photo of myself on Facebook in which I was smiling, kinda. Someone commented on that aspect:  At last, a smile, she said. Fact is that I am not a smiley guy.

My second ex-wife often complained about it*, especially on seeing a photo. But I’m not a smiley guy in normal life either. I have no idea why. It’s not that I don’t feel good. I do. It’s not that I don’t have a sense of humor. I do. My child bride has often remarked that it is one of the things she likes most about me, my sense of humor.

Perhaps my lack of everyday smiles is because I am not lighthearted.

leatherfaceThe Cambridge Online Dictionary defines lighthearted this way: Amusing and not serious. Well, I can be quite amusing, but I’m also dead serious. So scratch lighthearted.

Who can be lighthearted these days anyway?

American women in particular are famous for having smiles pasted on their faces. It’s very noticeable here in Mexico because Mexican women only smile when there is something to smile about. It’s not a permanent part of their faces. Watch a Gringa tourist on the street here, or even one who lives here, and she’ll sport that vacuous smile.

Please like me.

But let’s not get off the subject here, which is my not being a smiley guy. So if you ever actually meet me, don’t expect a broad smile. But I may say something later to amuse you and make you chuckle. I hope so.

* * * *

* Among many other things.

23 thoughts on “No smiley guy”

  4. My facebook profile also features me smiling. It’s one of about 50 shots of me taken by the same photographer, the only one with a smiley face. It looks fake to me. I don’t smile much either.

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  5. I admit, I am one of those perpetually smiley Southern women that now I’m thinking a lot of people may be wanting to punch in the face. Hey, I have big teeth and enjoy smiling.

    But I won’t hold it against you that now I know you aren’t smiley. Never thought you were.

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    1. Ray: I’ve noticed that you’re no smiler. And that’s okay. As I responded to Paul above, there’s really not much to smile about these days, though I have more to smile about than you because I live in Mexico and have no job.

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  7. Señor: I have, on many occasions, witnessed a sly smile from you. Neither you nor I are regular glad handing smilers but, rather, watchers. Watchers seldom smile. Draws too much attention.

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  8. I fall into the smile-a-lot category. But that is because I find almost everything in life to be unbelievably absurd. Nietzsche meets Don Rickles.

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  9. A former in-law would often accuse me of frowning. My reply was always, I am not frowning, I am thinking. Decades later, whenever I think about her, I start to frown and then I start laughing and appreciate my freedom.

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    1. Andrés: The opposite of smiling is not necessarily frowning. It often is just a straight face. I tend toward the straight face. As for your appreciating your freedom (to smile or frown), that is a good thing.

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  11. I think you smile more than you believe. Of course this is based on an incredibly small sample size. But I’ll stick with the conclusion anyway.

    However you don’t suffer fools gladly.

    Saludos,

    Kim G
    Zacatecas, Zac
    Which we have officially declared The Most Beautiful City in North America

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    1. Señor Kim: My wife, who has seen most every corner of Mexico due to her former government job, favors Zacatecas over all Mexican cities. I have been there just once, and I too find it first-rate. I hope to return for a second visit one day. No reason not to.

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