The other day, someone in the store gave a knowing wink to a stranger and they both smiled. I smiled, too, without even understanding why; when I considered, there’s no such thing as a BAD wink, is there? Who winks while saying, Piss off; or if they do they don’t mean it, or something’s up their sleeve. Can an emoji explain all that? Will people consider someone who winks occasionally to have a tic, or someone trying to communicate without words?
A study was conducted on some young people, Gen-Whatever, in which half were allowed their phones for a week and half were not (taken out into the woods or something). Afterwards, the proctors studied their ability to read facial expressions, and of course the kids with the phones were far worse.
Facial expressions are funny like that. Shortly after arriving in Puerto Rico, the Captain and I noticed people scrunching their noses and couldn’t understand why. So I asked my boss in the supermarket. Dave’s Dad was originally from la Parguera and his Mom was from Indiana, so they were my usual go-to’s in explaining cultural differences.
“What does it mean when someone scrunches their nose?”
Dave gave me a quick nose-scrunch as he answered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I didn't want to be insulting, so I left it alone.
Next up was Annette, whose parents were from the island but who grew up in NYC.
“That means, I don’t understand.”
Huh. So Cap, whose concept of Spanish was adding an ‘o’ to the end of words, comes back from filling a gas can at the dock and relays this story.
“The gas came to $10 and I gave him a $20. He smiled and put it in his pocket. I didn’t know what to say, so I scrunched my nose. He looked in his pocket, saw his mistake and gave me my change. It works!”
Tics or expressions? You decide.
P.S. According to advertisers, we're halfway to Halloween. 🏻😜😜
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