ON THE MARK

ON THE MARK

MARK BYERS

THE VALUE OF A SMILE

In a 1971 Stanford study, a psychology professor asked 12 men to serve as prisoners and 12 as guards in a simulated jail. He planned to observe psychological changes over the course of two weeks, but the behavior of the men assigned to act as guards became so sadistic, and the prisoners’ mental health so compromised, that the experiment was suspended after just six days. One of the key things that transformed those acting as “guards” into monsters? Mirrored sunglasses that hid their eyes.

For hundreds of years, people have understood that occluding a portion of a person’s face is key to changing their behavior. Masks have been used for centuries to create anonymity and hence, lack of accountability: if you were beheaded in medieval times, chances are the headsman wore a mask. Masks have traditionally been used by criminals to hide their identities while they were committing their crimes, making later identi cation by their victims dif cult or impossible. A 1979 Purdue study showed that about two-thirds of the children who were wearing Halloween masks broke rules versus a third of those who were unmasked.

My intent is not to engage in debate about the ef cacy ofmasks as a pandemic mitigator, but rather to relate personal observations from the early days of the “recovery.” From a psychological standpoint, masks have de nitely changed both my behavior and my perception of others. I didn’t realize one of the key facets for me until just prior to the Backroads Spring Break, when the CDC removed their recommendation for mask wearing for those who were vaccinated. After just a day of being around more people who were without covered faces, I realized the incredible value of…a smile. I felt lighter somehow (my post-COVID girth notwithstanding).

For fourteen months, the vast majority of people I saw in public had covered faces. During that time, when I encountered someone in passing, I had no idea of their reaction to me, nor they of mine. I would try to “smile with my eyes” but it may have been perceived as anything from a case of myopic squinting to an outright sneer. Humans rely a great deal on body language, whether we realize it or not, and taking away such an expressive part of that equation as the face is really dehumanizing. As a motor of cial for bicycle races, I’m encouraged to use a modular “ ip-front” helmet. Raising that chin bar not only allows us to speak without being muf ed, but it allows the messages to be delivered with a smile. From the cyclists’ standpoint, the message is being delivered by a person and not just an anonymous entity behind a mirrored visor and a chin bar. Many an agitated competitor’s demeanor has been changed with a thoughtful explanation of a sanction or a rule. I nd it much easier to build a rapport with a peloton with the chinbar up. I also noticed that I perceived the hotels who had embraced a more mask-free environment as having better atmospheres and better customer service, irrespective of whether their employees were required to do so or not. At one, where our waitress was maskless, it was really neat to see her smile in reaction to our silly antics - it was much easier to build that rapport.

As a job recruiter, I’ve noticed the value of a smile: two times in the past month I have re-interviewed people who were judged as “quirky” or “too

FREE WHEELIN’ Continued from Page 3 the time, wanted to ensure that other mapmakers weren’t simply copying their work, so in the 1930s they invented the ctional paper-town of Agloe, placing it at an intersection along New York State Route 206. The name “Agloe” is an anagram of Lindberg’s initials combined with those of his assistant, Ernest Alpers. The idea was that, if Agloe appeared on someone else’s map, then the General Drafting Company would know that the map had been copied from one of their own.

A few years later Esso sued Rand McNally for doing just that.

However, it turned out that Rand McNally had received the name and location of the town not from Esso’s maps but the Delaware County administration. It turned out that someone had built a general store at the Agloe intersection and, based on the name of the “town” on the Esso map, the owner named it the Agloe General Store. That was enough for the administration to register the town on paper. The town, that was just outside of Roscoe, New York is a true Urban legend these days and from a time when Manually Acquired Positioning Systems ruled and we had fun. So, while we embrace the present technology and expect even more magic in the future, don’t turn your back on the past. A map just might get you home one day! ,

ON THE MARK Continued from Page 5 quiet” by other recruiters who interviewed them by phone. I interviewed them again via video and offered both of them jobs after being able to see them “face-to-face.” The difference for both of them was the ability to see their enthusiasm for the job re ected in their smiles while answering questions about the position. I will no longer conduct interviews by phone because I might miss those expressions and hence, miss some amazing employees.

I believe it will be a while before people make their own choices and risk decisions and world circumstances dictate how much more mask use is appropriate - it’s not up to me to debate the clinical. I suspect that there will be people who will never abandon their masks. For me, however, I will both use and appreciate the absence thereof to reestablish my lines of communication with others so they can see me smile with my whole face. Like the two young ladies who ended up with job offers, you just never fully appreciate the value of a smile. ,