A German friend once asked me,"Why are Russian people so gloomy? Nobody smiles here”. I looked around and noticed that indeed, almost nobody in the Moscow subway was smiling. I said, "Why
should they?” My friend raised his eyebrow in astonishment and changed the subject.

I remembered our conversation and started searching for the answer to why Russians are seldom found smiling. A few months later I found a very solid and thorough explanation in the article A Smile in Russian Communicative Behavior by Dr. Iosif A. Sternin. Dr. Sternin explained that in Europe or North America, smiling is a sign of politeness. When you see people smiling at you in the USA or Germany, it doesn't mean anything other than an overall neutral attitude toward you.