Smile and Nod

Anybody who has been in a situation where they don’t speak the language of the majority quickly becomes an expert in the “Smile and Nod School of Communication”.

The “Smile and Nod” is a method of communication using universally acknowledged; facial expressions, shoulder shrugs, eye darting, and head nodding. Using this style of communication requires absolutely no study. Social scientists everywhere are engaged in a hot d debate about whether “Smile and Nod” is in fact an innate survival mechanism.

One can express a great number of things using “Smile and Nod”. “Yes of course!” “I’m not sure I understand, but okay.” “I’m utterly confused” are a few of the most common. Context and subtlety of gestures allows for an infinite number of phrases expressed through “Smile and Nod”

While “Smile and Nod” serves many people well, it doesn’t come without danger. Smile and Nodders are at an extreme disadvantage. Misunderstandings and the risk of being taken advantage of are very real.

An innocent smile and nod of the “Yes of Course!” variety has recently caught up to me. I bought my plane ticket back to the States over two weeks ago, however the cost of my ticket had not been withdrawn from my account. I finally decided it was time to talk to the nice people at my bank. Whereupon I learned that when I opened my account (the second day I was in France) I agreed that bills bigger than 150 euro would be paid for in three installments starting the month after purchase.

“Oh! Okay! Wow! I agreed to that?”

All is good, my plane ticket is still reserved, and I changed my debit card so that all transactions will be immediately activated. Furthermore I’ve long passed the “Smile and Nod” phase in France. Phew! I’m traveling to Sweden and Norway for the February vacation, so I imagine I’ll be using it again soon.