People who grin at nothing...

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This is the one thing that confuses me more than anything else. I'll go to the store and every once in a while, I will see someone standing there smiling like the cat that ate the canary. It's downright eerie. I can't figure out why someone would have a Cheshire cat grin for apparently no reason. I could understand if someone is telling them a joke or they are reading something funny. They are either staring straight ahead or looking at very unfunny items on shelves. When I am out, I never do this. I tend to look serious when I am shopping, concentrating on what I need to buy. When I see people grinning like that, it kind of creeps me out. Due to my Asperger's, I don't know why some people do this. The vast majority of people do not. Does anyone know why they do that?

Enigmatic smiles are my weakness.

I often catch myself smiling or even laughing at my own thoughts. Perhaps that is also the case with the people you've encountered?

Last edited by Luci on 21 Aug 2011, 5:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I do this; I can't help it. If I think of something funny, there's no way I can stop myself from grinning. It's annoying because I really wish I could control myself like that.

That's what I tell myself. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt but I do wonder if the smile has anything to do with me. Maybe they saw me and think I look comical, and since it's rude to stare, they don't but they can't stifle the sardonic grin or something.

I am hoping someone reading this will say they do that when they see someone they think looks ridiculous but don't want to do the obvious staring thing so I'll know it's not my imagination.

If I had a quarter for every time I've been accused of this, I'd never have to work a day in my life.

You really don't know how wrong you are. As much as I hate talking to people, it always makes me smile. Not in a good way, but in a creepy way like you've described. Sometimes I'll try to look away to hide it, but that's all I can do.

Well, I think most people day dream more often than they want to admit. Occasionaly, we might be day dreaming sodomy. Other times, I'll just be thinking of something more cleanly entertaining.

There is no context here so nothing can be conclusively said, but when I lived in Scotland ten years ago it was sunny all the time, so obviously I had a grin/smile on my face which people asked me about...(I have a form of SAD which the sun alleviates and when all is warm I feel good)

Why can't people just accept that some people are in a good mood, would you really give a s**t if he was crying his eyes out, would that make you feel better?

I'm completely guilty of this, my mom asks me all the time "Whats so funny?" and I never really can answer her. My head is just a silly place and it makes me laugh. I just tend to make weird connections in my head that I find really funny.

I used to share my silly thoughts with my friends but I would end up with responses like "That's not funny" or "That's the dumbest thing I've heard".

But these people aren't talking. It just annoys me because I don't know why they are doing it. I confuse their smiles with the smiles of people who have ridiculed me in the past. It's the same type of smile. Honestly, I would prefer to be scowled at than to see the confusing grins. At least there is no uncertainty about the meaning of scowls.

I think the problem is not in interpreting what a smile or grin means, but in knowing if it is because of you. It is highly unlikely that any of these people are even really aware of you.

I often randomly smile or laugh at thoughts from my own head. I will sometimes scowl or make other weird faces too. I will scowl at products in the shops if they have been moved or the labels have been changed, it definitely doesn't have anything to do with the people around me.

Actually, you would be surprised...there is a look of contempt, scorn, disgust, anger, irritation, and you can also have facial paralysis which makes it hard to do anything other than show one single emotion.

There was an episode of House one time where he was stuck in an airport with Cuddy and a woman was sneering at her coffee which was an effect of some ridiculously obscure ailment (as usual it wasn't Lupus), then House mentioned she didn't have all that long to live...

There are of course many other expressions, but they are the main five "bad" ones, the ones most likely to get you in trouble if you are in a pub full of rival football fans :p

~~

I am a great believer in asking people directly whats up, if they are grinning from ear to ear I will comment on it in some innocuous way such as, "you look happy, has your girlfriend said "yes"? " Of course you have to judge this for yourself, every situation is different.

This is a disarming statement/question and is the one most likely not to raise their ire.

Of course the other option is to throw a shopping trolley at their head demanding they quit it.

Last edited by Sparhawke on 21 Aug 2011, 6:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I hope you continue to recover from those past ridicules, because it doesn't seem like you're there yet.

I smile and laugh at my own thoughts... so idk...

I would rather not see the sardonic grin.

I think what I am seeing is the "sardonic grin." It's not a normal, happy grin, but something else entirely. I see it from time to time and since it indicates darkness no wonder I feel creeped out.

What is described on this thread is not sardonic, so we are not talking about the same thing.