Smile like a Million Dollars : Rules for a half smile

I smile a lot and think it is very healthy. In fact it might have been Dale Carnegie's book " How to win friends and influence people" that may have inspired me to smile even under pressure.

The topic I want to talk about is a half smile. At first I was offended when people gave me a half smile and abruptly wiped the smile off while you were looking. Now I think there are some secret rules that I am not privy to about the situations where a half smile is warranted. Here is my guess about what the rules for a half smile are :

1. When a stranger is smiling at you. 
2. You think you know this person but you are not sure you will get a smile back
3. If you don't smile the situation can get nasty
4. It's polite to give a half smile 
5. I want to acknowledge the person but do not want to show familiarity

 In my humble opinion if there is a situation where a half smile is warranted then a full smile is better. What do you think are the situations where half smiles are recommended. What are the downsides of a full smile?

As a reward for reading this post here is a slideshow of all the half-smile pics on Flickr ( see at your own risk )

Neil Armstrong - The First Man on the Moon Passes Away

From NPR :

Former astronaut Neil Armstrong, known for his words "that's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind," has died. He was 82. Armstrong had cardiac bypass surgery earlier this month, as Mark wrote, and at the time, his wife said he was "doing great." Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted that he planned on joining Armstrong at the 50th anniversary of the famous Apollo 11 mission in 2019

Source: npr.org via Shashi on Pinterest