AN email recently circulated showed young men with radiant smiles training to be police officers. At the end of the email, there was a lone picture of a frowning cop. The contrast was made obvious by its sheer starkness. Ask any citizen or resident in any country why they go to great lengths to avoid having to deal with officialdom, and over and above rampant bureaucracy and inefficiency, chances are that they will tell you about how rude, rough and abusive security men and government employees (note that virtually no one refers to them as public servants) can get. And there is no reason not to believe them. Walk into any public or government building, and you are often first greeted (or non-greeted) by a grim-faced, arrogant security guard. If you ask for directions, the best you get is a half-hearted, ambiguous attempt at an explanation. And as soon as you set foot in the building's front door, it's only downhill from there. There are probably as many explanations for this phenomenon – disdain for smiling – as there are sociologists. Some might say it all boils down to financial hardship. Others might tell you it's the lack of training in PR. Yet others might even tell you that they have no reason to be happy, in light of everything that is going on in the Arab world. But all that appears to be about to change. Giant billboards have been appearing all over major Saudi cities for days now, portraying cops, officials and ordinary people donning pleasant smiles, with lines that read “let's keep the smiles on our faces.” That's a commendable, effort. It sends across a message that people are in serious need of a dose of smiles. A smile can do wonders to level the playing field between cop and driver, between receptionist and customer. A smile can help a stuttering victim speak more clearly, and can help the easily distracted official listen to him more intently. With that in mind, imagine how much more can get done with mere smiles. Imagine how hung-up government work will suddenly start flowing by. Imagine how much more business will be done. The old saying that a smile costs nothing is an ever
