There's something to be said about living joyfully in public. I try to be as kind and happy to strangers as possible, both because it's in my nature and it makes people's day. I love to smile at strangers, even though 90% of the time, they look back at me like I'm crazy, but that's just New York City, baby. Smile at strangers in any midwestern city, and you'll get many smiles back.
Like everything, relentless positivity can be taken too far. It can become a turn-off when it veers into the realm of phoniness. Nobody likes someone who's so obviously trying to be friendly and upbeat that it feels like a performance. Also, expecting people to match your enthusiasm for seemingly mundane things is unrealistic.
Recently, a video went viral where a millennial woman did a corny dance when she got her IHOP pancakes. The video caught another girl in the background glaring at her. This footage is causing debate about who is wrong and who is weird here.
