My latest post of a letter from an angry flight attendant has spawned a slew of responses from angry passengers and about an equal number of comments by those who agree with the flight attendant. But no one has remarked about just how hard it is to smile.
Or is it?
We have all heard the “think positive” crowd repeat that it takes more muscles to frown than smile. Their conclusion — smile, it is far easier than frowning. Of course, the rational behind that smile will have nothing to do with happiness.
This “fact” has led to all sorts of other conclusions, like frowning therefore uses more calories and should be used as a weight loss program.
A post on an anatomy blog notes that the old saying that “43 muscles to frown but only 17 muscles to smile” is bogus. There are only 36 named muscles of facial expression. Maybe some of these muscles are used in both expressions.
Snopes.com, arbiter of what’s true and untrue, claims no one really knows how many muscles it takes to smile and how many it takes to frown. This is still a medical mystery and will probably be the subject of a Nobel Prize study in the not-to-distant future.
After all, no has defined a smile yet. Is the Mona Lisa really smiling? What is she doing, exactly? Is a Cheshire Cat smiling or grinning … is there a difference? Don’t get movie buffs started with Jack Nicholson’s smile.
Back in 2002, Swedish researchers proclaimed that people respond others’ facial expressions — smiles beget smiles and frowns spawn more frowns. I’m not sure how that helps in the customer service debates, but a flight attendant cheerfully smiling and greeting passengers will probably beget a happier flight experience.
Southwest Airlines has discovered this phenomenon and created a culture around flight attendant happiness and good humor. Perhaps this is why Southwest rates off the scale, compared to other airlines, when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Known for their superior customer service, Germans were carefully studied for the effects of smiling and friendliness by the Der Spiegel, a top German magazine. The study conclusion — smiling is dangerous to your health. The study, incidentally, was conducted with flight attendants, so its findings are closer to home for the traveling public.
The stress caused by having to flash one’s teeth at customers can lead to depression, high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems, Professor Dieter Zapf of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt told Apotheken Umschau, a healthcare magazine handed out free at pharmacies in Germany.
Zapf went on to say that “professional smilers” needer to take a break every so often “to relax, rid themselves of aggression and recuperate from the effort of smiling.”
So when your flight attendant is looking glum or scowling in the back of the aircraft, remember he or she is only talking a “smiling break.”
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
