Manager tells 21-year-old retail worker to "just smile more," she obliges by smiling non-stop for her entire shift, horrifying a Karen customer: 'For the rest of my shift, and every shift after, I smiled'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Aug 16, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Everyone who has worked retail, food service, or customer service has heard this one. It's an age-old and renowned phrase uttered by many a manager everywhere, that is supposed to fix all of the company's issues. Usually, it comes from upper management, who have visited the store unannounced and been confronted with the fact that the weary and underpaid minimum-wage workers weren't thrilled to be there. Often, it's not even that they weren't given good service and "greeted" as workers in this field are required to greet customers, it's simply that they weren't smiling enough. 

See, this type of management seemingly expects you to be running around with a maniacal, almost inhuman smile on your face at all times, so there's never a moment of doubt that you are happy to be present at your job and in the service of the customer. 

When this young 21-year-old part-time worker and full-time student was pulled aside by her manager, "Craig," and told that she should "literally just smile more," she took his feedback on board like a good worker should. From that moment on, no matter where she was or what she was doing in the store, she had a smile on her face, the widest and biggest smile she could possibly manage. This proved to be disconcerting to customers who were startled by her strained smile and made frequent mention of it. Soon, other workers joined her smiling efforts, which eventually forced the manager to amend his previous order. 

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  • 01

    "Literally just smile more. Even when no one’s talking to you. Just keep a smile on.”

    A woman smiles wearing red lipstick
    via Michael Dam

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I (21F) work part-time at a retail clothing store while I'm finishing college. It's your typical mall chain: overpriced basics, weird music, and managers who think "the customer is always right" even when the customer is actively shoplifting. One day during my shift, my manager Craig (40s, always smells like Axe and insecurity) pulled me aside and said, "Hey, I noticed you don't smile much. You should really smile more—it makes customers feel welcome." I said, "You mean be friendlier?" He said,
    via messyjessie0
  • 03
    For the rest of my shift-and every shift after—I smiled. But not like, normal smiling. I smiled wide, with too much teeth. I smiled while folding jeans. I smiled while sweeping. I smiled while telling a Karen we didn't have her size. I smiled at customers until they asked, "Are you okay?"
    via messyjessie0
  • 04
    One guy legit said I looked like I was about to snap. Another asked if I was in a cult. A little kid started crying when I greeted her at the fitting room. Coworkers. caught on and joined me. We started calling it "Smile Mode." By the end of the week, it looked like a haunted mannequin showroom. Craig finally told us to "tone it down." I asked sweetly, still smiling, "Oh, I thought you said to smile more?" He didn't bring it up again.
    via messyjessie0
  • 05
    A customer carrying shopping bags during a trip to the mall
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 06
    mslass 40s. always smells like Axe and insecurity ROFL. I'm enjoying imagining how his Axe Body Spray's effectiveness is tested when his insecurity around a confident and educated woman half his age makes him sweat.
    via messyjessie0
  • 07
    00Wow00 I was working at a small company, and the manager's kid asked me why I was smiling. I told him that it could be that I was happy or that I knew "something" about someone. That was all it took to get the twirp paranoid because he thought that he needed to know all of the gossip going around. Later in the day, I was smiling, and he asked what I was smiling about, and I set the trap by saying, "Oh nothing...." After that, for months, he would get p ed any time he would see me smile, which o
    via messyjessie0
  • 08
    Abject-Ad-2459 I worked retail in college too. My manager tried telling me to smile in the break room, I said when they pay me for my breaks, I'll smile. But I really like your approach
    via messyjessie0
  • 09
    bandcat1 I'm a man. I had a supervisor tell me to smile more once. When I did, I made sure to keep de d eyes and slightly tilted my head down. It creeped her out and asked me to stop immediately. It was never brought up again.
    via messyjessie0

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customer support customer service workplace-stories talesfromretail retail karen-customer customers karen-customers tales-from-retail
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