Tue 28 Jun 2005
Yesterday I went to one of the NBK branches to do something. As soon as I walk in, as usual I saw the front reception desk. The lady there was standing and actually greeted me with a smile!! A nice genuine smile to a customer! She really made my day with that small gesture! Thank you 
“Don’t open a shop unless you like to smile.”
________________ _ - Chinese proverb
I wish this short sentence can be sent to every company and ministry in Kuwait!!
Why don’t we smile at each other? Even I stop smiling as often when I’m in Kuwait, why?! I know that part of the reason is that if you smile to any member of the opposite sex, they will probably take it the wrong way, and if you smile to a guy, he might take it the wrong way too!!
Men and women in general don’t smile alot in Kuwait when you see them walking around and so on, it diminishes their “هيبة” I guess! Laazim il rayaal in Kuwait iseer thigeeeel, which also includes not smiling alot, to be a real man!
limaaaaaaaaaaaaaaathaaa hal 3uqad?!
Smiles really do take you a long way, they honestly help alot! Having a dimple (qammaaza) also helps make my smile look alot more genuine ;*)
25 Responses to “Smile”
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June 28th, 2005 at 2:48 pm
I Once wrote a post about that.
It is really sad that a smile is misunderstood in this country.
June 28th, 2005 at 3:02 pm
I used to smile at people but I stopped!
عندي غمازة حلوة و أخاف ينظلوني عليها
:p
btw, I like the “Limaaaaaathaa” ;p
June 28th, 2005 at 3:22 pm
انا شقول عيل؟
في الكويت لا تبتسم
في نيويورك لا تبتسم ولا تطالع بعد
احلى شيء ولايات الجنوب…ياحلو نفسياتهم
June 28th, 2005 at 3:56 pm
TF, wow very similar posts! Great minds think alike ;P
boghazi, inta u uses to smile?! When was that?!?! inta all the happiness and love show from the first words on the phone ;P o qamaazty a7la min qammaaztik ;P a3jibik ib limaatha!
NYchick, tara walla from my experience its just New York, thats one of the reasons I dont like it. When I was in Boston, smiling was a very common thing everywhere….as is the occasional finger on the road!
June 28th, 2005 at 4:21 pm
I was going to say Boston and Maine bas I knew u’ve lived there and u already know that.
Ahh Boston…I love it
June 28th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
NBK rules and all the other banks suck! I don’t think I have seen anyone ever smile at me at Gulf Bank, they seem grumpy all the time…
June 28th, 2005 at 5:12 pm
Q it would fun to just smile and “surprise” them heh regardless what they think
Remember, a SMILE is contagious! 
June 28th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
I just recently opened a NBK account because of work. I used to be in Burgan. The first time I walked in the Salmiya Branch (next to Eureka), the customer service lady gave me the biggest smile ever! Like she was expecting me. Before I even began to ask for help, she interrupted me and pointed to something behind me. There was arabic coffee and sweets. I asked her “shino il munasaba?” She told me, “nothing, just help yourself” and of course I did!! Wow, what a way to start my work day. They offer coffee and arabic sweets every morning! Now if that’s not customer service, I dunno what is! Just wanted to share.
June 28th, 2005 at 7:48 pm
Mark, your complaining about Gulf Bank… well have you ever been to KFH??
Have you ever seen a situation where the customer is with the branch manager raising a complaint, while the supervisor (who is part of the complaint) is waiting for him outside THE MANAGER’S OFFICE just so he could beat him up!?!?!?!?!
June 28th, 2005 at 8:13 pm
Zaydoun
if u r reading this, I am really interested in reading yr opinion regarding NBK’s free smiles!
btw, can’t open yr blog today!
Q
الوطني حاله حال اي بنك في الكويت
mswe da3ayah 7ag NBK?
فيه ناس عمري ما شفت لهم تعليق من قبل هني لكن يبدو انهم من محبي الوطني
اعتقد لو شخص يتأخر بقسط القرض الي يطالبونه فيه نفس هالموظفة بس تضغط على زر و تعرف رصيد الشخص راح تكشر عن انيابها
الله يذكره بالخير بوحفص كان حاط تعليق وايد حلو عن الوطني
انا ما ابيهم يبتسمون يبا, ابيهم يبطلون تفلسف بس ادز لهم فاكس من هني, كل مره نفس العذاب بالاضافة الى ان مدراء الفروع يعتقدون انهم من اعضاء الكونغرس
June 28th, 2005 at 9:46 pm
so the summary of this post is that you like smiling guys who have NBK accounts?
June 28th, 2005 at 10:32 pm
NBK is a great bank when it comes to customer service! I’ve seen the lady who helps me out with my account around town and she still takes a moment to say hi!
The funny thing is that the manager of the branch I goto looks like Sulaiman Al-Gassar the famous “Wedding Singer” in Kuwait!
June 28th, 2005 at 11:12 pm
It’s not easy smiling in Kuwait but personally I sill do it (at least whenever I’m back home) I love smiling at girls who stare at me (you know how it is girls in Kuwait always staring at each other) they’ll be surprised at first and then they either smile back or roll their eyes or look away…but I love it when they smile back! So people, smiling is contagious just keep smiling and eventually you’ll see someone smiling back at you
June 28th, 2005 at 11:57 pm
I smile regardless of people’s interpretations and so should you.
Some think i’m flirting (and sometimes that would be true.. Ahem), others would go “Shfeeha? Habla?”
June 29th, 2005 at 12:43 am
Q, I remember when I first came back, and kept nodding to the people on the street, LOL.. dude, I was threatened twice, cussed out by women quite few time ( chebu7 hal wayh comments) until I learned that it’s a no no.. so I stopped it now. I only smile to people I am some how acquainted with.. colleagues at work, even if I don’t know them, I’ll nod.. no Arab female colleagues though.. just non Arab female colleagues I’ll smile and nod to.. malee khilg another jebu7 hal wayh comment from a colleague ba3ad.. LOL
Another thing, I had a big issue when I first moved back about women not thanking me if I stop for them to cross the street, or open the door for them.. men usually thank me, but women for a long time I thought they were just rude, arrogant and thinking that I have to do that for them (gh9ban 3alai), so I got so pissed off and started never stop for women to cross the road, until a friend told me that if they wave thank you or acknowledge the guys stopping for them, these @$$ holes (the guys), would thing it’s a sign to hit on them, and that the women want them or something.. I mean that really surprised me soooo much.. how on earth a thank you nod or a wave means have sex with me ?? dude sometimes I don’t know how Kuwaitis think really..
June 29th, 2005 at 9:43 am
Don.. that is so true about ungrateful women, but old habits die hard with me. I always hold the door for a lady, or let her into the elevator before me etc. to the point where once I was daydreaming and forgot to hold the door for a lady and it shut in her face.. I ran after her to apologize cos I felt so bad. But then that was in New York, not here.
Here they don’t even say thank you, because they’ve been taught never to speak to a male stranger except in extreme emergencies. Idiots!
Nychick… NBK customer service is actually quite good in general. It has vastly improved over the last decade from when they were the snooty indifferent bank to the friendly one they are now. HOWEVER, working there is still hell. So I salute all the staff who manage to put on a smile, knowing they’re being screwed by their managers.
Gulf Bank used to be the friendliest, until they decided to operate it like a slave ship. Go easy on the GB staff, people.. you have no idea how bad they have it!
June 29th, 2005 at 9:45 am
I still smile a lot! I believe in the saying “smile and the world will smile back to u” …. u r right about nbk…best customer service in kuwait.
most people think i am a foreigner since i am freckled and stuff, so they think thats why i smile and say thank u lol! which is quite ironic, since i know in the states and canada, neighbors barely say hello to each other..yet smile to strangers…
June 29th, 2005 at 10:15 am
Smiling and saying thank you in Kuwait is a win/lose situation. Like Jelly Belly said, I feel good when my eyes meet with another random girl by accident and we just smile and look the other way. No harm done right?? And SOme girls will just give you the look of death. Also I became so accustomed to women not saying thank you when I offer help. They do take the gesture as a sign of flirting! Whatever! “Thank you” is a freebie…It’s not like saying “Thank you…will u marry me?” What do they expect, for us to slam the door after we walk in so that will not have the opportunity to say “thank you”? Then they will just say that we are just rude!! See?? We lose both ways. But my mother taught me well…always open a door for a lady, and don’t expect anything in return. But sara7a…a would like a “thank you” from time to time.
June 29th, 2005 at 10:20 am
Everyone, this post was not supposed to be about me complimenting NBK! Im just thanking the person who was working there! Although its true, they do have the friendliest staff.
NYchick, why dont u move to Boston?
mark, Gulf Bank and grumpy all the time??! sounds familiar (ifham ya flaan) ;P
VC, I would really love to go with ur advice, but I think Don described it best in his comment on what abuse comes along with that!
JC, ur right these small touches make a big difference, problem is not all companies understand!! Ya3ny to the NBK branch that I go to, if ur queueing, there is someone who brings arabic coffee to you while u wait! How kick ass is that?!?
boghazi, LOL! Ive been to a KFH branch once, and was creeped out by the no music, no smile, no beauty concept they were going with!
Purg, e7im, how did that end up as a summary?! what guy and what NBK accounts? ;P
Stallion, I think, no I know, that we go to the same branch ;P
JB, its alot easier smiling to girls of ur a girl, trust me!
Shurouq, even if i try to do it, I cant! Khalaas im programmed now to have this silly serious face whenever on the street! its sad!
Don, wainik man long time? A7san comment! I remember back in the day when I was in highschool I was in a car and turned my head willa I see an older woman in the other car talking to me, so I lower my window, willa she’s screaming at me 3ala inna shloon ana qaleeel adab o laaish gaa3id akhizz banaatha and so on! WTF!? I didnt even notice her car, her banaaat were more like her khirfaaan, and the whole time I didnt even turn my head to their direction! Thats the day I lost any kind of understanding towards Kuwaiti women. I let her continue yelling and closed the window.
Zaydoun, imagine running after her to apologize here! what kind of reaction do u think ull get from her?! And u hit it on the head, “because they’ve been taught never to speak to a male stranger except in extreme emergencies”, takhalluf wallaaaa!
ram, looking like foreigner, when u smile people wont think ur weird or crazy, so u have a loophole u can work with ;P
June 29th, 2005 at 11:28 am
Ok more weird Kuwaiti behavior? Standing in a traffic light, and this sweet lookin’ 4X4 comes next to me, I started looking at it appreciating the art spent on it, the big wheels, the low suspension, it looked like a car that came out of the show “pimp my ride” (MTV), it had LCD monitors inside.. I mean the works..
Only to be interrupted by the driver rolling down the window, and tells me to role down mine.. “okhoy et3arefnee ? a3arfik ?” I told him no I don’t think so.. “ inzain shfeek et khiz?? 3asa ma shur?” I really was shocked!!! I mean if you don’t want anyone to look at your car, why take the effort and the money to make it sort a unique ?? I really didn’t know what to tell him, I told him it was my fault.. and apologized for looking at his car.. hehehe it’s the first time I have ever apologized for that reason.. and now, I try not to show that I am interested in a car on the road.. I only look at a nice car when I know I am in an angel that the driver won’t see me.. how pathetic is that ??
June 29th, 2005 at 11:55 am
The Don;
That happend to me when smiling to a GIRL yes a GIRL.
“Do you know me?” I said “No”, “Then why smiling to me” I said “huh?” and then she left leaving me with a big shock :/
June 29th, 2005 at 12:56 pm
Don.. forgive me, but you should’ve told the guy to fuck off!
June 29th, 2005 at 1:16 pm
Because that is the whole point of the post yet it is hidden in the text
June 29th, 2005 at 3:34 pm
Zaydoun, that brings up another story !! willa bus 3aad LOL!! la3ant khairkom stories today.. hehehe.. I’ll stop here..
November 27th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Well well well … i really believe in the power of a smile , ya3ney i dont know why is it a big deal to smile back at someone who smiled at you .. even in our religion elebtesama fee wajh a5eek 9ada”9a… i have a nice smile but unfortunatily bedonn ‘3amazat ;( i like to smile and that makes me feel good and i hope that i can keep smiling all my days who knows maybe one day someone will fall in love with my smile .. lol ..