Why the Swiss don't smile and the Americans do

The Frau’s American experiment is teaching her a lot about the Swiss.

Namely, why the Swiss are like they are.

To understand this, she has been studying Americans for the last three weeks.

Americans are very effervescent in public. Perfect strangers bubble over with smiles and life stories. And then they disappear into their big cars and their big houses, lost forever to the person they just met. They don’t walk anywhere. Two steps into the car. Two steps into the grocery store and two steps back into the car to go through…the Starbucks drive-through. Or the ATM drive-through. Or the library book drop off drive-through. Therefore, Americans dress as if they aren’t going to see anyone for more than a few seconds and they are generally pleased to talk to anyone they see.

By contrast, most Swiss live in small apartments in buildings with many other people. They walk down pedestrian streets. They ride public transport. They go into coffee shops and stay two hours. They go into banks. They live a public life. So they dress like they’re going to be in public for a while. In other words, compared to Americans, they look really nice because they are on public display. But with all of this public life in Switzerland, The Frau is really beginning to understand why the Swiss keep to themselves. If they smiled at everyone they saw in a day, their faces would hurt. If they bubbled over with enthusiasm every time they saw a neighbor, it would be over the top.

All of this also explains why people in New York City might not be as friendly as people in a small US town. They can’t be. They would go crazy because there are too many people around to be nice too.

The Frau’s conclusion? The more life one leads in public, the less friendly one will act towards the public. Any yodelers agree or care to disagree?

The Frau's Swiss Smilestone

The Frau would like to celebrate a little Swiss smilestone. As of today, she has collected more Swiss smiles in the last month than in her last six years. Having a toddler in a pink gingham coat semi-attached to her index finger has its advantages, fellow yodelers.

Baby M toddled around the Baden train station instead of the park this morning (thanks, rain), terrorizing both the Coop display of children’s beach toys, a St. Bernard attached by its leash to the wall, and the instant photo booth.

A Swiss train station is a toddler’s dream rainy day playground.

And while The Frau didn’t fit in with her big fat American accent, Baby M certainly did, screaming a proper “nein!” whenever The Frau pulled her away from something inappropriate, which was oh, maybe every 30 seconds.

As much as The Frau’s back hurts from walking around with Baby M twice today, it’s kind of fun tooling around Baden collecting all of these Swiss smiles, even if she does go in odd directions like through banks with sliding doors, into drug stores to fondle the foot creams, and through Migros Take-aways on her way to well, absolutely nowhere.

The whole journey to nowhere is kind of exciting. Where will The Frau go next in Baden? Up steps that lead to a mysterious locked door? Into a bush where a cat is hiding? Around and around the kebab shop as if it’s a merry-go-round? Only time (and Baby M)

will tell. But no matter where The Frau and Baby M go, at least they'll get a smile.

If you've had a baby in Switzerland, do you get more smiles now?