Yes, you heard me correctly. Resting Bitch Face.
I say this half-joking, but then again, not really. In the few weeks we've been living here in Poland, I have never seen so many women (and a fair share of men) who have perfected the art of Resting Bitch Face. They just look downright miserable, yet, when you talk to them...even in my very limited Polish, they are completely lovely. You can even get them to crack a smile occasionally.
Yesterday at my Polish lesson I asked my tutor why RBF was so prevalent here. (Please know that I did not use the term RBF as I did not want to completely offend her. I occasionally have a little tact.) But, she just laughed. Yes, she said, most Polish women do look very unhappy. Yes, she said, ask a Polish woman how she is and it will be a contest to see whose life is the most terrible. Marta even said that she didn't realize Poles were like this until she started teaching Polish several years back and foreigners all commented on RBF here. (Once again, she did not use the term RBF - I'm translating for you.) Marta blames it on the weather here as it is dark and gray a lot of the time. I'm not sure. I think it might be genetics.
Anyways, for those of you who might come to visit...RBF runs rampant here. But, rest assured. This syndrome is not contagious and a few casual smiles can go a long way to counteract the effects.
No comments:
Post a Comment