Thursday, August 22, 2013

8:39 AM I'm up and have breakfasted. It's cloudy. I need to get groceries, so I had better go out early before it starts to rain. Need to make a grocery list. Doing that now.

Looking up things on the Internet really is addictive. I go to the computer multiple times every day just to see what I can find. Just now I looked up “smiling while talking,” which is something that tends to make me trust a person less if the smile is inappropriate or could be an attempt at manipulation, such as a salesman trying to convince me that I need their product. I found comments (probably blogs, because there were answers to most of them published) on every side of the issue. Some people are embarrassed by smiling while talking, because they can't help doing it. It is a reaction to being self-conscious. Others have actually tried to form a habit of smiling, because they think it makes a person look more friendly. The types of situations that I have found it objectionable are, first, when someone is trying to be more persuasive, in which case I just think they are lying and trying to manipulate me, and second, when the subject is or should be a sad or serious matter, and they seem to be feeling humor about it and enjoying it. In the second case, it is probably the reflexive smile some people were talking about which is actually a reaction to being nervous. I feel a little more forgiving of the reflexive smile now after reading the comments, since it probably doesn't mean they are enjoying a situation of discomfort, but I still don't agree with the philosophy of creating a false smile to try to manipulate. I still don't like manipulation and manipulative people. I am a person who has to trust others to interact happily with them, and I don't trust the social smile, even when I am being introduced to someone. One of the articles contrasted the social smile or false smile with a real smile, which moves the muscles around the eyes as well as the mouth. A false smile only involves the mouth, and may seem tight and tense. So I say, don't smile unless you are really feeling relaxed and happy, and don't smile when you hear that someone you know has died, or when someone is sharing a painful moment in their life with you. That doesn't make me feel that I am talking to a friend. My problem is that I sometimes frown when I'm unconscious of it, and it makes me look like I am displeased. Some people have mentioned it to me, and asked me what's wrong. Often when they ask me that, I'm simply tired, and the lines of my face are pulling downward.

I should go to the grocery store soon. It's still dark outside and may rain. I always dread going out until I get moving, so I need to get moving. It will actually give me some stimulation and make me feel better. 11:07 Well, I'm back. I spent $36.00, but I got at least a week's worth of food. At $36.00 a week for four weeks I will still be within budget for food, and I don't usually spend that much. It did start to rain after I got in the store, but I managed to get into the car without getting very wet, with my umbrella. It isn't a blowing hard kind of rain, but just small drops. It's what Daddy used to call a soaking rain, and he liked them because they are good for the garden. A heavy rain may wash the soil away or pack it down, and doesn't go as deep, reaching the roots of the plants.

12:24 PM There is no news at noon today because the weather report is following a tornado warning on the border of Duval and St. Johns counties. It was described one time as a water spout, so probably won't be very destructive, though the weather man said a water spout can do damage if it comes ashore. Right here the clouds are thinning and I can see some blue sky, but there is a large stormy area off the coast and moving inward, so we may get some active weather after all.

5:24 I forgot bread at the store and had to drive back. I also went to the library to get a couple of books, though I forgot to bring back the ones I had finished. That's okay. I renewed them all by telephone.

It's suppertime. Goodnight.