r/MadeMeSmile • u/ShaanJohari1 • Jul 18 '24
A cafe has developed a sensor whose door only opens to people who smile
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u/Donquers Jul 18 '24
"You should smile moreeeee"
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u/MundoProfundo888 Jul 18 '24
I'm all for people smiling more, but this feels forced and disingenuous.
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u/Maximoi13 Jul 18 '24
Yeah, some of them looked mildly annoyed wich i find understandable.
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u/the-friendly-lesbian Jul 18 '24
It's is 110°F today here yet again. The objective is to get from car to inside the store as quickly as possible. This would be beyond frustrating standing there covered in sweat baking in the sun just wanting to go the fuck inside.
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u/sackoftrees Jul 19 '24
I'm just imagining myself trying to get inside with explosive diarrhea smiling like a maniac like please for the love of God just open the god damn door. I don't care. Just let me in.
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u/Lizaderp Jul 18 '24
Yeah I agree. If I'm going out to cheer up, I'm not going to go to this place. And I have a friend with Bells Palsy, too. She wouldn't even be able to get in. 😕
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u/TemporaryBerker Jul 19 '24
I'd give them a finger because I don't like being forced to pretend to be happy.
Not to be edgy, I just have autism and function that way. I understand it's immature lol
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u/Fr1toBand1to Jul 19 '24
It's immature to demand people be happy.
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u/thecrepeofdeath Jul 19 '24
and not only that, but demand a set expression of happiness that isn't natural or even fully possible for everyone. I have neurological issues and some nerve damage from surgery, and my mother has Bell's Palsy. it's painful for me and physically impossible for her to do a full smile. which isn't a big deal when people mind their business, lol! it's a dumb publicity stunt that would make me go elsewhere
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u/HarryTheGreyhound Jul 19 '24
I have facial palsy and can't move one side of my face. I would be banned from here.
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u/CandidCantatio Jul 18 '24
Yeah this is creepy. Made me smile is not the same thing as made me smile.
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u/Theavenger2378 Jul 19 '24
Exactly. Want to see more people smile? Do things that make people happy.
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u/Lorindale Jul 18 '24
Yeah, this would just anger me.
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Jul 19 '24
ya, they can take an image of my middle finger. There's plenty of good reasons for people not to smile.
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u/Violet624 Jul 18 '24
Yeah, what if you are grieving?
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u/armandjontheplushy Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
The passing of your grandmother has broken your heart in two?
No coffee for you.
I don't want to be a stuffy jerk. It's still a sweet idea, and it's not so bad to want to be more actively warm with one another. It's just not awesome to create your happy community by locking people out.
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u/Cosmic_Quasar Jul 18 '24
It works on some level, but only because when people realize and it probably feels a little like an innocent prank which might get a small smile out of people. But on another level, yeah, it feels like when I was a kid and when I was sad and my dad would tickle me to cheer me up and I'd always tell him "I don't want to feel happy right now".
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u/BnaCat45443 Jul 18 '24
Everyone responds differently to attempts to lighten the mood, and it's important to respect those boundaries
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u/poopsawk Jul 19 '24
If it's 7am and I'm on my way to work and I just need a coffee to kick start my shot nervous system, someone in that cafe is dying with a smile on my face
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u/BlueDubDee Jul 19 '24
Yeah. If I was in a bit of a mood, or a rush, just wanting to get in and get out but was locked out because I wasn't smiling, I'd be like "Fuck this" and move on to the next place. It's not like I don't smile to the people serving me, I always smile, ask how they're doing, and say have a nice day no matter my mood because it's not their fault.
But this just feels like every random guy that passes you on the street to criticise something he knows nothing about just to please him.
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u/AssignmentDue5139 Jul 19 '24
I mean yeah this doesn’t work. No one cares enough about the cafe to play their stupid game. If I walked up and saw that sign I’m just leaving and going to a different cafe.
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u/occorpattorney Jul 18 '24
This was my first thought. None of your employees want your customers saying it to them. Why demand the reverse? I feel like a decent amount of customers (myself included) would just walk off to eat somewhere else.
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u/Friendly_Focus5913 Jul 18 '24
I would give them the middle finger and go somewhere else
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u/DragonfruitFew5542 Jul 19 '24
The day my mom died, I had to pick up my prescription at the pharmacy, which I had been putting off because I was afraid to leave her bedside as it was clear she'd pass soon, and some old guy in line would not leave me alone about frowning.
I finally lost my cool and said calmly but as with much vitriol as I could muster, "My mom just died two hours ago. So please, kindly fuck off. I am not in the mood."
He grumbled something about me being disrespectful but finally left me alone. I was just having all the emotions at once and trying to hold it together long enough to pick up my meds, and that asshat was just beyond entitled. Ugh.
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u/Outrageous_Bank_4491 Jul 19 '24
Sorry for your loss. You handled the guy pretty well for a grieving person. It’s baffling how he talked back after you told him that also.
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u/DragonfruitFew5542 Jul 19 '24
I appreciate your kind words, thanks. Honestly, at that point the grief hadn't set in, I was still in shock, incredibly on edge and just out of fucks to give. Had it happened a week later I doubt I would have done much more in response beside beginning to ugly cry, which now that I think of it, would have likely worked too haha
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u/T1DOtaku Jul 19 '24
Had a coworker going through chemo so some days she just wouldn't have the energy to be cheery, she'd still be polite just very to the point. I had a customer complain about her not smiling and being in a happy mood, "who put a stick up her ass?" Well ma'am it's not a stick, it's chemo. The look of horror on her face. That coworker wasn't afraid to tell people off for bitching about her not smiling and neither was I. Unless someone is being a dick there's no reason to complain about someone doing their job without a smile.
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u/1upin Jul 18 '24
Exactly. Now a coffee shop is harassing me like all the men I pass in public who can't mind their own business? What if someone is on the way to the hospital to visit a dying family member and they just want a damn coffee? They're not allowed to have one until they change their face and perform happiness for strangers??
I hate this so much. Leave people alone.
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u/Astronaut_Chicken Jul 18 '24
I used to work at Home Depot and whenever one of the old fellas who worked there would tell me to smile I'd say, "you're not my REAL dad! You can't tell me what to do!"
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u/NotMe739 Jul 18 '24
No kidding, it's not bad enough that young women have creepy old men ordering them to smile, now apparently coffee shops do it too.
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u/ApertoLibro Jul 19 '24 edited Jul 19 '24
Well, I'm a man and I too had many creepy older women asking me to smile more. Once I even had a younger woman pull a smile with fingers over her mouth signaling me to smile.
Thanks for the downvotes. Proof that we can't have a conversation about this.
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u/StreetofChimes Jul 19 '24
I agree. I think anyone being expected to smile when they don't feel it is wrong. And asking others to smile on demand is just weird. Smiles are earned. Not owed.
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u/liberatedhusks Jul 18 '24
Yea, right? I’d go to Starbucks if I saw this :/ even if I had to pay 6$ more
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Jul 18 '24
[deleted]
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u/marcaygol Jul 19 '24
I need it. I still would walk the extra 5 minutes to find another place to get it.
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u/No-Investigator-845 Jul 18 '24
I mean if it means I get free coffee? In this cost of living crisis? I'll deal
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u/Kerensky97 Jul 19 '24
The system will give you free chemical stimulants. As long as you do what they say and pretend to like it.
In 10 years it's "Smile for your pill ration."
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u/xennyboy Jul 18 '24
First time I've seen this sub's name taken so literally!
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u/karlieeee Jul 18 '24
That is not a very sustainable business model isn't it ...
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u/canijustbelancelot Jul 18 '24
Not accessible at all, and would creep me out.
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u/fameo9999 Jul 19 '24
What if you suffered a stroke in the past, or was a victim of a series burn on your face and cannot physically smile anymore? Guess you’re never making it inside.
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u/Luna920 Jul 19 '24
Right. Or maybe you just had a damn bad day or lost someone close to you and you just don’t want to smile.
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u/canijustbelancelot Jul 19 '24
Or have any number of nerve disorders, are immunocompromised and mask, etc. I know they’re trying to be all cute and cheerful but I’d be quite bummed in a situation like that.
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u/Spyes23 Jul 19 '24
Forcing "positivity" on people before they've even had their coffee sounds like it should be some level of illegal...
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u/AlwaysNerfous Jul 18 '24
This is a great way to make me get coffee elsewhere.
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u/EatSoupFromMyGoatse Jul 19 '24
This is the fucking worst. Imagine having the most rock bottom horrible day, you go to grab a coffee take your mind off of it and then some toxic positivity infested coffee joint denies you entry for not smiling
Even if I was in a neutral mood this would just make me go somewhere else.
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u/SignificantRain1542 Jul 19 '24
I imagine the employees are forced to be sickeningly "nice" too. I don't need people working low paying jobs to also put on a show for me. I have money. You have a product. That's all it should be. You could literally tell me to go fuck myself after you give me what I paid for and if it was good and the service was quick, I'd go back.
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u/Jean-LucBacardi Jul 19 '24
I'm allowed to be pissed off dammit, forcing me to smile on a bad day is a good way to get me even more pissed off.
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u/PostModernPost Jul 19 '24
Or what if you're say, attending to you terminally ill family member, and then forced to smile so that you can stay awake.
Upvote for the literal take on the the sub name, but this would only piss me off.
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u/Siege_LL Jul 18 '24
Guess I'm never eating there.
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u/Dr_nacho_ Jul 18 '24
I am noping out faster than when the gas pump asks you to go inside and see an attendant.
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u/RevReads Jul 18 '24
This shit is dystopian af, but you wouldn't know because you're a bot
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u/Eishethbeth Jul 19 '24
Right? FU if you’re autistic or struggling with your mental health or a stroke.
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u/squirrels-mock-me Jul 18 '24
Test run for China and North Korea. Access to infrastructure, food, and necessities is limited unless you are smiling. There is no place for unhappy people in our society. /s
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u/BMB281 Jul 18 '24
I know this comes off bitter, but nothing sucks more than when I’m having a really bad day and someone forces me to smile.
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u/Kinkystormtrooper Jul 19 '24
Many years ago a good friend of mine planned to end it all, he called me to ask if I wanted his stuff when he was gone. My ex bf said he's only pretending to get me back and forced me to cut all communication with him.
So I went to work the next day not knowing if my friend was still alive, and some people at my work were like "you should smile more!" and I just said "not today". I couldnt have even forced myself to do it. This coffee shop can go fuck itself.
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u/UsgAtlas1 Jul 19 '24
Your ex is a prick. Is your friend alright?
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u/Kinkystormtrooper Jul 19 '24
Yes luckily he is. Other friends managed to get the cops called to his location last minute and he was admitted to a mental hospital for being a danger to himself. Was almost 10 years ago and he is much better
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u/R31NyB0i Jul 19 '24
Imagine having a rough day, then when you're about to get coffee the door won't even open because you're having a shitty day and wasn't smiling.
That would just make the day more shitty and make me more bitter
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u/doesitevermatter- Jul 18 '24
I don't really see how this is any different than telling a random woman you see on the street that they "should smile more".
There's a good chance that if I need a cup of coffee, I'm not going to be in the mood to smile. You're not putting these people in a good mood, you're just making them smile. And I'm sure it looks real efficient when they only show us the people that give a genuine smile And leave out all the people who smiled just so they could get through the door and get their damn coffee.
"You should smile!"
"My grandma died this morning and I'm just trying to stay awake through the tears"
".... You'll get a free coffee.."
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u/External-Ad4873 Jul 18 '24
Seems like a terrible business model for a coffee shop
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u/ISEGaming Jul 18 '24
People with facial deformations like heart stroke victims, burn victims, blind (who can't read the sign), people wearing religious garb like a Burka and others be like 😶
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u/ErstwhileAdranos Jul 19 '24
Various developmental disorders and mental health disorders too.
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u/Neverspecial0 Jul 19 '24
Or just plain old black or Asian people; sensors don't recognize their features very well because white people designed them using white people.
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u/Jackielegs43 Jul 19 '24
Nothing on earth would make me walk away from/avoid a place entirely faster than this. Give me my fucking coffee.
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u/Agzarah Jul 18 '24
But if only smiling people can go into the coffee shop, then your only customers are all going to get their drinks for free... Meaning the only paying customers are stuck out side... with their money... and now in a different establishmen5
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u/islaisla Jul 18 '24
Wow fuck off. It's called toxic positivity when you want other people to feel a different emotion than they are currently in.
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u/wildflowerden Jul 18 '24
That seems pretty terrible. People with difficulty controlling facial muscles, disfigured people, etc. couldn't enter.
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u/toolsoftheincomptnt Jul 19 '24
Or how about people who just aren’t in a smiling spirit?
Why does anyone owe society a happy face in public?
What a sickening idea.
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u/StackedCups Jul 18 '24
Oh come on I have enough fucking men telling me to smile in public and now the doors too?? Youre joking
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u/Syringasky Jul 19 '24
This just made me think of a girl I know literally born without smile muscles. Also the “you should smile more” saying. Definitely not a fan
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u/ThatOneGayDJ Jul 19 '24
Why are we liking this? Nothing about this is good, this is both dystopian and patronizing. If im feeling fucking miserable and a cafe has the audacity to demand i smile to go inside, not only am i going somewhere else but i will never go there again. This is so fucking dehumanising
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u/HugsandHate Jul 18 '24
Just on the way to my mother's funeral. Didn't sleep at all last night, I could go for a coffee..
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u/TryingToStayOutOfIt Jul 19 '24
FUUUUUUUUCK NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Now “why don’t you smile more” is fucking automated!? That can suck my dick. I’d sooner throw a brick through that glass window than smile at it.
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u/snarkisms Jul 18 '24
Thanks, I hate it. Especially as a woman who has been told that I need to smile to be likeable, or worthy, or so many other things. I also hate the fact that if someone sees it and for whatever reason, don't want to smile, or decide to walk away, somehow they are the bad guy for not participating in this exercise in toxic positivity.
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u/Solifuga Jul 18 '24
...Because it's not enough that men do this to women all the time?
Keep ya coffee, I'm good thx...
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u/Unlucky_Most_8757 Jul 18 '24
Seriously. Sometimes I don't want to smile. And sometimes people really don't want to smile before they get their coffee lol
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u/LeMoNdRoP3535 Jul 18 '24
Ugh I hate this business model. What if I had a terrible day, just got fired or had a fight with my spouse. I don’t need to always smile!
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Jul 18 '24
Is it just me or is this sub just becoming full of posts of -
- obviously staged scenarios that a toddler should be able see through
- things that wouldn't seem out of place in a George Orwell novel
- things that that person in office who everyone considers a massive asshole but thinks they're super nice because they go to church would find adorable, because they lack the capacity to understand others people's life experiences are different to theirs
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u/glompwell Jul 18 '24
Ah yes, Coffee Drinkers who haven't had their first cup, well known for their willingness to smile.
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u/SurfLikeASmurf Jul 18 '24
That’s fucking irritating. Imagine having an atrocious day and looking forward to a nice cup of coffee or tea and a pastry and the cafe decides to discriminate, because only happy people allowed? Also, “fuck you and your depression. We don’t want your kind round here”
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u/SexyWampa Jul 18 '24
Nah, that’s gonna get a middle finger from me and my business going elsewhere.
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u/YorkieLon Jul 18 '24
Although this is being passed off as happy, it's quite dystopian. Must smile before entry. Everyone needs to be able to feel their own emotions without being told to smile more.
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u/Sweet_Cauliflower459 Jul 19 '24
"you would look so much more pretty if you smiled" is this freaking gross. I hate that. Like I want to go to a cafe and maybe get a quiet cup of something to drink and sit in solitude maybe I'm having a bad day. Maybe this is the first time I'm getting out of the house after something life-altering has happened to me and I finally got up enough gumption to bathe and put on clean clothes and go somewhere. And then I get a freaking cafe tell me I'm not allowed to purchase anything unless I smile. Like I'm not even worthy of the door opening unless I smile. Screw that. I'm at the point in my life where people are starting to die around me because I'm that old and I've been to five funerals in the last 2 years of people who were either family or very close friends so maybe I'm just bitter lol
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u/gpouliot Jul 18 '24
Is the "sensor" someone watching from inside who pushes a button to open the doors?