I smiled at a lady on the plane once as she sat next to me. Asked “how are you doing?” She told me her son just died and was going to his funeral. She cried and told me how much she loved her son as I held her cause I didn’t know what else to do. She thanked me for listening.
“smiles are reserved for sincere interactions” Americans constantly get accused of being “fake” but we are usually just… nice and happy? even if you’re a stranger we ARE having a genuine conversation with you. idk why this is so hard for so many Europeans to understand.