The Filipino Smile. Why do we smile? a simple question with so many answers. Me, I try to smile everyday, not only when I'm happy or when I am excited or when I have thought of something funny or something mischievous, I smile even when I am stressed and under pressure...call me crazy but I do...It is my way of telling my self "kaya mo iyan". Well enough of me, I would like to share a blog by western-asian they tried to answer to the question Why do Filipino smile, enjoy reading :)
Deciphering the Filipino Smile: Filipinos are big on smiles. They smile when they praise, they smile when they criticize; they smile when they are embarrassed and have caused some minor offense; they smile when they need something from you; they smile when they are happy; and for any reason. A waiter who spills soup on your shirt apologizes with an embarrassed smile; a jeepney driver cutting in front of your moving vehicle smiles in lieu of asking your leave- or is it in triumph at putting one over you? It doesn’t matter, the best response in Manila’s hopeless traffic tangle, in the broiling noonday heat, is to smile back

An awkward situation invites a smile because the air is charged with potential conflict and you are expected to smile in return to defuse the situation to clear the air. A smile is a convenient reply when a person does not want to say something unpleasant. Rather than get something critical in words you will get a silent smile. If you ask someone what he thinks about something you just did and he smiles but says nothing, he is not acting the imbecile, he is telling you silently and in the gentlest possible manner he does not think much of it. A smile is always a perfect euphemism.

A smile is the best way out of having to say something that could create controversy. Where the westerner would give a curt “no comment”, the Filipino confronting the media will not budge from his smile. Clearly, there is much to be read into a Filipino smile. With it, subtle mechanisms of social interaction are triggered. There is a smile for every situation; you simply have to learn the meaning by observing the cause and effect of smiles. For example, if you accidentally fall over in public, people will not be solicitously concerned for your safety. Instead they will probably smile, while waiting to see you stand up and recover yourself. Verbal concern would only turn public attention to your predicament and causes you loss of face. By deliberately overlooking your public embarrassment while showing sympathy with a smile, your discomfort is suppose to be relieved. One’s dignity, or in Filipino-English, ‘poise’, is always more important than physical calamity.

There are various kinds of smiles and half-smiles, accompanied by eye contact, to cover all occasions. There is no Filipino dictionary of smiles- it takes exposure to comprehend what they are all about.


photo: pinoyespesyal.blogspot.com

PWW [Gregoria]