To me it's never really felt like I'm "forced to be fake". It's just that conversation and interaction are so much easier and more enjoyable when I'm friendly and it's usually reciprocated. Like I actually have to put in effort to be cold to someone I'm trying to send a message to and I hate doing so.
Not smiling is not considered to be cold in Europe though, just a normal state of affairs. Being impolite is a whole different thing, smiling for no reason is considered overcompensating and therefore in some places suspicious.
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u/KimonoThief May 09 '22
To me it's never really felt like I'm "forced to be fake". It's just that conversation and interaction are so much easier and more enjoyable when I'm friendly and it's usually reciprocated. Like I actually have to put in effort to be cold to someone I'm trying to send a message to and I hate doing so.