REGULAR RANTS

It is, according to a German psychologist, who warns that those at most risk are the ones whose careers demand a smiling face, such as flight attendants and shop assistants.  Constant smiling leads to stress, depression and even heart problems. Professor Dieter Zapf of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt bases his theories on research conducted by the university.  He recommends that professional smilers take regular breaks from smiling so that they can relax and recover from the efforts of smiling.

It is said that in Germany, however, this is not likely to be a problem. Germans are not famous for being smilers.

This finding by Professor Zapf is very enlightening. I remember a long transcontinental flight on Singapore Airlines some years ago (I don’t fly too often, so I use this as an opportunity to observe human behavior). I was very impressed by the warm smiles that were on the faces of the airline stewardesses all the time, and this despite the hectic schedules that they had and the harrowing treatment they received from some nasty passengers. I said to myself: hey, these people really love their job, don’t they? So I was totally unprepared when it was lights out on the plane to allow people to sleep. The moment the lights started to go off in the cabin, the smiles disappeared, to be replaced by tired grim faces. In retrospect, I believe that the cabin crew just did what comes naturally to prevent stress, depression and heart problems, without even being aware of the health benefits of not smiling.