Sometimes, I do it, where I live in Bxl. And most of the time, I get smiles or a Hi! Head nod
I give them the nod of acknowledgement
Unless you stare them in the eyes for a full minute with a jokeresque smile it wouldn’t be considered creepy, plenty of people do it here just like nodding or saying hi
It’s not expected that’s for sure
People in belgium are a bit cold , they are just like that , don’t worry
Depends on regions and cities.
It’s reddit being reddit. Just someone who applied the meme about Scandinavian people on Belgians. Most people give a nod, say hi, or do that Jim from the Office smile
Americans definitely swing the other way than Belgians. When I was in the US I would get smiles, greetings, compliments from strangers basically anywhere, it is strange at first, like why is this person talking to me? But after a while you get used to it. Here in Belgian cities I wear my headphones and I avoid most eye contact if I’m just out in the streets, I’ll only smile if someone smiles and doesn’t look creepy lol (you can usually tell the creeps apart, they’ll usually end up saying something rude or yell at you if you ignore them, I pretend to not hear).
If the eyes meet I give it a little nod, raised eyebrows a “we know it’s weird but let’s do it” smile that I try to do like this 🙂, but in reality it comes out like this 😐.
Please keep doing it. I do it to and most people are confused. Sometimes a woman smiles back and it literally makes my day. And I have anxiety. We are so boring and closed.
Well there’s a difference between 😀 and :). A 1 second 🙂 is acceptable. But you should always go for the downward nod
Fuck it. I even tell them good morning, especially when they are a bit old (50-60s+).
No harm. Never had a “Kareny” experience, if I do, just keep walking/riding the bike. Its not like im getting arrested for a good morning 🤣
As a belgian i have to say i hate those American fake smiles.
After 1+ year, my team at work and shops near where I live revealed that they talked and joked behind my back that maybe I drank wine for breakfast or put too much sugar in my coffee. Lmao. I am from South East Asia and I don’t care, I stay like this
Belgian here. I smile at random people on the street. Even say good morning or good evening. Most of the time they reciprocate.
I always smile at people. But the response isn’t always appreciated. Dunno why. But that doesn’t stop me from doing it.
I find it’s better to smile than to be awkward about it.
As a Belgian I can say this is true and pretty sad, but it can be explained.
Most other countries have a strong culture and most people are a bit the same. But because of wars, language issues, migration, people over here have a weak “group feeling” .
Even some neighbors don’t seem to mind each other’s existence but it depends on the region.
Someone described this pretty well in an article, saying : “A history of domination and oppression, from without and within, led to a collective inferiority complex disguised as “Flemish modesty”. Flemings have such a hard time being truly proud of themselves.”
Hope this makes sense in a way.
Also : the more urban, the more this will be seen. Rural villages will have much less of this.
Somehow they often think you are a creep, while in fact you are just enjoying the view. Something happened in recent history that makes people very aware of each other’s behaviours.
Just nod
If you would smile at me, I’d give you a nice smile and nod or hello back. My mom always greeted everyone she passed when I was little. Now I do this to, if the eyes lock, I greet, if not then no greet. Getting greeted makes me happy, so I hope my greetings makes others happy.
Depends on where in Belgium; in Brussels, Limburg and most of Wallonia I always feel like people are social and are happy to have a talk.
It’s usually the rest of Flanders where I feel like that people really don’t want to be social with strangers.
Ik doe meestal gewoon mijn wenkrbrauwen omhoog, moeten ze maar aanvaarden als een “hallo”
Probably Dutroux’s fault.
Depends on the reguon you are in. Cities usually ignore eachother, more rural areas you nod or give s small smile.
Don’t start smiling when you see them, it’s weird indeed. But if you are already smiling It’s good/ positive . But indeed a nod is fine to, I do find this not even 25% as powerful then smiling.
I have RBF or resting bitch face so i force myself to smile at people or i look like an asshole
Smiling is something you do at ppl you know. For ppl you don’t know you say: “goeiendag” or whatever greeting is common in the local dialect.
I just came back from a walk. Most people say ‘goeiendag’ and most of those that don’t smile a little. Not a full on big smile, that would be a bit creepy imo, but just raising the edges of their mouth a tiny bit with a closed mouth.
People here are mad for no reason in general just ignore them.
It’s not creepy at all. I get smiled at and I just smile back. Simple
I smile back
My God! I feel this.100%! I lived in Canada and people over there greets the bus driver when entering the bus or getting off. First week here I did the same and I almost got spat in the face: the driver didn’t answer, people around me turned their faces in anger and everyone else gave me severe looks. Never again! I now smile only at foreigners and kids.
Just give them the akward white poeple smile and everything will be fine.
I consider myself an expert: https://imgur.com/a/gcelR8d
Meh, i always smile or nod or whatever. If people cant deal with that then that is their problem
It’s crazy how many people smile at me and my kid when i’m outside with my kid (1 yo). Some people even start conversations. It’s not creepy at all to smile at someone. Staring is.
It’s kind of hypocritical to be nice to strangers, no? I mean, come on, let’s not kid ourselves. When society collapses, you wouldn’t be too opposed to killing them and taking their stuff before they can kill you and take your stuff. I think it’s more honest to be cold and mean from the get-go.
I try to smile and say hi as much as possible since I’m genuinely convinced we can make our society less toxic if we would all do this more often.
That’s not true everywhere, perhaps in town our in some part of Belgium but in walloons villages everybody smile and say hello.
Do it all the time, amuses me when older folks don’t expect it from me. (26m)
Mostly just the nod though.
In Wallonia it’s rude if you don’t, in Flanders it’s weird if you do
No, it’s not creepy. I don’t mind people smiling at me or saying hi and if they do so I’ll probably smile back or say hi too except when the person is already too far away and it’s just too weird to still say something. By the time I am over the awkward and surprised feeling of a random stranger saying hi that will be the case most of the time and I’m probably seen as very rude for not replying.
BUT. I don’t care about other people. I got enough worries, thoughts and general shit on my mind. Smiling at strangers is not on my daily to do list. Existing is hard enough already.
I don’t think not smiling is going to make someone’s day worse. It might make them better, but that’s not my job, especially if I can’t even smile or feel happy about anything in general.
I was new at school and smiled at one of my new classmates in passing and I heard her friends hysterically asking her if and how she knew me… felt great.
Smiling is bassicly my resting face, so I don’t really smile “at” people. I just smile. If i know people, or if you lock eyes on accident, I’ll mostly nod. I just don’t do it to everyone.
I think it also depends a bit on if you are a guy or not. In general what I’ve seen, if a woman smiles to someone (man, woman, child, anyone) it’s not that big of a problem and usually people smile back, but if you’re a guy it is more likely to get frowned upon if you smile to a woman or a child (even nodding sometimes scares people off, maybe I’m just weird but that’s my experience)
A friend of mine was an exchange student in the US, they went to see the Statue of Liberty and it was freezing cold, there was a big waiting line, so my friend really suffered during the wait. Later, her host family scolded her because she embarrassed them by not smiling in public.
Yeah and we’re the weird ones.
When a stranger smiles at me in the street, more often than not, he tries to start a conversation to ask me money.
I do the victory v symbol with my fingers. Engaging and simple, but yeah, I weirdly stopped smiling to people in Brussels
Yeah definitely, i think it’s because a smile is supposed to convey happiness and no one thinks “oh theyre smiling at me because them seeing me makes their day better”, the nod of acknowledgement doesnt do that
“Wait, do I know this person who’s smiling at me? No? OK, just going to smile back with my ‘sorry for being in your way, have a nice day’ face.”
50 comments
Sometimes, I do it, where I live in Bxl. And most of the time, I get smiles or a Hi! Head nod
I give them the nod of acknowledgement
Unless you stare them in the eyes for a full minute with a jokeresque smile it wouldn’t be considered creepy, plenty of people do it here just like nodding or saying hi
It’s not expected that’s for sure
People in belgium are a bit cold , they are just like that , don’t worry
Depends on regions and cities.
It’s reddit being reddit. Just someone who applied the meme about Scandinavian people on Belgians. Most people give a nod, say hi, or do that Jim from the Office smile
Americans definitely swing the other way than Belgians. When I was in the US I would get smiles, greetings, compliments from strangers basically anywhere, it is strange at first, like why is this person talking to me? But after a while you get used to it. Here in Belgian cities I wear my headphones and I avoid most eye contact if I’m just out in the streets, I’ll only smile if someone smiles and doesn’t look creepy lol (you can usually tell the creeps apart, they’ll usually end up saying something rude or yell at you if you ignore them, I pretend to not hear).
If the eyes meet I give it a little nod, raised eyebrows a “we know it’s weird but let’s do it” smile that I try to do like this 🙂, but in reality it comes out like this 😐.
Please keep doing it. I do it to and most people are confused. Sometimes a woman smiles back and it literally makes my day. And I have anxiety. We are so boring and closed.
Well there’s a difference between 😀 and :). A 1 second 🙂 is acceptable. But you should always go for the downward nod
Fuck it. I even tell them good morning, especially when they are a bit old (50-60s+).
No harm. Never had a “Kareny” experience, if I do, just keep walking/riding the bike. Its not like im getting arrested for a good morning 🤣
As a belgian i have to say i hate those American fake smiles.
After 1+ year, my team at work and shops near where I live revealed that they talked and joked behind my back that maybe I drank wine for breakfast or put too much sugar in my coffee. Lmao. I am from South East Asia and I don’t care, I stay like this
Belgian here. I smile at random people on the street. Even say good morning or good evening. Most of the time they reciprocate.
I always smile at people. But the response isn’t always appreciated. Dunno why. But that doesn’t stop me from doing it.
I find it’s better to smile than to be awkward about it.
As a Belgian I can say this is true and pretty sad, but it can be explained.
Most other countries have a strong culture and most people are a bit the same. But because of wars, language issues, migration, people over here have a weak “group feeling” .
Even some neighbors don’t seem to mind each other’s existence but it depends on the region.
Someone described this pretty well in an article, saying : “A history of domination and oppression, from without and within, led to a collective inferiority complex disguised as “Flemish modesty”. Flemings have such a hard time being truly proud of themselves.”
Hope this makes sense in a way.
Also : the more urban, the more this will be seen. Rural villages will have much less of this.
Somehow they often think you are a creep, while in fact you are just enjoying the view. Something happened in recent history that makes people very aware of each other’s behaviours.
Just nod
If you would smile at me, I’d give you a nice smile and nod or hello back. My mom always greeted everyone she passed when I was little. Now I do this to, if the eyes lock, I greet, if not then no greet. Getting greeted makes me happy, so I hope my greetings makes others happy.
Depends on where in Belgium; in Brussels, Limburg and most of Wallonia I always feel like people are social and are happy to have a talk.
It’s usually the rest of Flanders where I feel like that people really don’t want to be social with strangers.
Ik doe meestal gewoon mijn wenkrbrauwen omhoog, moeten ze maar aanvaarden als een “hallo”
Probably Dutroux’s fault.
Depends on the reguon you are in. Cities usually ignore eachother, more rural areas you nod or give s small smile.
Don’t start smiling when you see them, it’s weird indeed. But if you are already smiling It’s good/ positive . But indeed a nod is fine to, I do find this not even 25% as powerful then smiling.
I have RBF or resting bitch face so i force myself to smile at people or i look like an asshole
Smiling is something you do at ppl you know. For ppl you don’t know you say: “goeiendag” or whatever greeting is common in the local dialect.
I just came back from a walk. Most people say ‘goeiendag’ and most of those that don’t smile a little. Not a full on big smile, that would be a bit creepy imo, but just raising the edges of their mouth a tiny bit with a closed mouth.
People here are mad for no reason in general just ignore them.
It’s not creepy at all. I get smiled at and I just smile back. Simple
I smile back
My God! I feel this.100%! I lived in Canada and people over there greets the bus driver when entering the bus or getting off. First week here I did the same and I almost got spat in the face: the driver didn’t answer, people around me turned their faces in anger and everyone else gave me severe looks. Never again! I now smile only at foreigners and kids.
Just give them the akward white poeple smile and everything will be fine.
I consider myself an expert:
https://imgur.com/a/gcelR8d
Meh, i always smile or nod or whatever. If people cant deal with that then that is their problem
It’s crazy how many people smile at me and my kid when i’m outside with my kid (1 yo). Some people even start conversations. It’s not creepy at all to smile at someone. Staring is.
It’s kind of hypocritical to be nice to strangers, no? I mean, come on, let’s not kid ourselves. When society collapses, you wouldn’t be too opposed to killing them and taking their stuff before they can kill you and take your stuff. I think it’s more honest to be cold and mean from the get-go.
I try to smile and say hi as much as possible since I’m genuinely convinced we can make our society less toxic if we would all do this more often.
That’s not true everywhere, perhaps in town our in some part of Belgium but in walloons villages everybody smile and say hello.
Do it all the time, amuses me when older folks don’t expect it from me. (26m)
Mostly just the nod though.
In Wallonia it’s rude if you don’t, in Flanders it’s weird if you do
No, it’s not creepy. I don’t mind people smiling at me or saying hi and if they do so I’ll probably smile back or say hi too except when the person is already too far away and it’s just too weird to still say something. By the time I am over the awkward and surprised feeling of a random stranger saying hi that will be the case most of the time and I’m probably seen as very rude for not replying.
BUT. I don’t care about other people. I got enough worries, thoughts and general shit on my mind. Smiling at strangers is not on my daily to do list. Existing is hard enough already.
I don’t think not smiling is going to make someone’s day worse. It might make them better, but that’s not my job, especially if I can’t even smile or feel happy about anything in general.
I was new at school and smiled at one of my new classmates in passing and I heard her friends hysterically asking her if and how she knew me… felt great.
Smiling is bassicly my resting face, so I don’t really smile “at” people. I just smile. If i know people, or if you lock eyes on accident, I’ll mostly nod. I just don’t do it to everyone.
I think it also depends a bit on if you are a guy or not. In general what I’ve seen, if a woman smiles to someone (man, woman, child, anyone) it’s not that big of a problem and usually people smile back, but if you’re a guy it is more likely to get frowned upon if you smile to a woman or a child (even nodding sometimes scares people off, maybe I’m just weird but that’s my experience)
A friend of mine was an exchange student in the US, they went to see the Statue of Liberty and it was freezing cold, there was a big waiting line, so my friend really suffered during the wait. Later, her host family scolded her because she embarrassed them by not smiling in public.
Yeah and we’re the weird ones.
When a stranger smiles at me in the street, more often than not, he tries to start a conversation to ask me money.
I do the victory v symbol with my fingers. Engaging and simple, but yeah, I weirdly stopped smiling to people in Brussels
Yeah definitely, i think it’s because a smile is supposed to convey happiness and no one thinks “oh theyre smiling at me because them seeing me makes their day better”, the nod of acknowledgement doesnt do that
“Wait, do I know this person who’s smiling at me? No? OK, just going to smile back with my ‘sorry for being in your way, have a nice day’ face.”
Can’t smile at them but they STARE.