Always. Smiling.

July 8, 2010 at 3:49 am · Filed under Roba

Many years ago
Burger King Take Away Guy: You’re not from around here, are you?
Me: I am. Why?
Burger King Take Away Guy: You actually said hello and smiled!

I have been smiling less and less often. I hereby declare this week an attempt at regaining my smiliness. If you bump into me and I don’t smile, I owe you a ras-il-3abed :)






  • http://blog.sweetestmemories.com Qwaider قويدر

    You know, same thing happens to me anywhere I go in Jordan. My smile makes people smile back and say, you’re not from around here.

    Damn it if what distinguishes a Jordanian is their frown!

    But aside from all of that, can I beg you for ras-el-3abed … mishan allah .. we don’t have it here :(

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  • http://ammanis.wordpress.com M

    I know what you mean about smiling less and less. :[ But today, as I was entering university, I was alone and in a great mood, so I said hey to the guard and smiled..the smile on his face told me he didn't get that much often.

    keep smiling. :]
    .-= The latest from M´s blog ..A Car AccidentBut Much More =-.

  • http://travellerwithin.blogspot.com Mo-ha-med

    Hey, I once had a ‘best smile’ certificate. But i was, ehhh, in college. :) (yes, we were goofy enough to hand out ‘best smile’ and ‘prettiest headscarf’ and god knows what by the end of our Model UN conferences….)

    Anyways. Well, you can’t force a smile. even if not smiling will cost you a ras el abed. :) but you need to think of why you used to smile in the first place. Not why you’re no longer smiling; that’s just looking for excuses. Why DID you smile? Seeing friends? A tasty fruit? There’s a million reasons to smile, we just don’t notice them as we walk them by.

    Me, a good song playing makes me smile like the Cheshire cat.
    .-= The latest from Mo-ha-med´s blog .. Khaled Said will not be Egypt’s Neda =-.

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Qwaider, lol, yeah, Ras Il Abed isn’t something that you easily find in Amman these days! :) The ones you do seems to have been made 30 years ago :P And they’re becoming sooo small :(

    M, lol yeah. It’s true that some people really appreciate your smile. Sometimes, I smile on my way to work at random people in cars. A few times this year, the smiles I got back were so dazzling that they made my entire week. Other times people look at you like you’re crazy :P

    Mo-ha-med, lol, you are very smiley, if I may so myself! :) But I’m not saying smiling out of joy or for anything, but simply offering a stranger when your eyes a meet a genuine smile. Haha @ Cheshire cat reference, haven’t heard that one in a while! :)

  • Ohoud K.

    I once got an extra falafel because of that :)

  • http://www.aliwritings.blogspot.com Ali

    I’m the type of guy who always smiles and i also get comments because of that, Like it’s something really weird and from the outside world, But sometimes i get a smile back from people that make my day.

    Specially that i work in the tourism industry, I focus on giving a good first impression to everyone i deal with because I’m almost the first thing they see, So i think it’s very important.
    .-= The latest from Ali´s blog ..Shankaboot =-.

  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh

    inshallah dayman mobtasemeh :)
    .-= The latest from Mesh´s blog ..Feeling 80′s =-.

  • http://one-ugly-duckling.blogspot.com/ Rand

    I can get it makes your day when a stranger smiles at you, but the problem is when you smile and they give you that look like “what are you smiling about?” with a ja7ra aw kashra, it happens to me all the time especially in stores, sales girls in Amman? Very angry!
    Meeting the smile with a death stare is not a thing to brighten your day!
    .-= The latest from Rand´s blog ..The Levantine Guys 5 Worst Bride Choices =-.

  • http://andfaraway.net/blog/ Roba

    Ohoud, lol, at least it has perks every now and then :D

    Ali, you are right indeed. It reminds me of your header! :)

    Mesh, teslam :)

    Rand, lol, 3anjad. The death stare can make you stop smiling for months afterwards! Ro3ob!

  • rand

    Hey Roba :D
    This may sound a bit stalk-ish, but I’m a devoted follower of your blog.
    We both graduated from the same arts and design faculty, yet I guess we’ve never met.
    Ok as for the stalky part :P , before a week or so I was working on a movie set, near the RFC, and I was trying to block the street or at least slow the cars down because the car engines were very loud and were destroying all the shots. And your familiar face passes by in a car ( I really hope it was you and that I’m not mistaken, otherwise this would be very awkward). You were one of the very few who actually slowed down, without honking the car horn or even enquiring about what was going on. But you were the only one who actually smiled :) .
    It meant the world to me, because you wouldn’t even imagine what I was going through that whole week of shooting. The heat wave, the crankiness of fasting people, the insults aaaa555 ,,, your smile made my day and made it worthwhile. So this post popped instantly to my mind, and I just had to let you know, at the risk of sounding like a clichéd psychopath, how important it is that you never ever stop smiling. So thank you Roba for that smile and for this amazing blog.
    :D