You may have heard of Resting Bitchface Syndrome. If you aren't familiar with RBS, some people, when their facial muscles are completely relaxed, look like they are angry, frustrated, or depressed, even when they are relatively happy and content.
When I'm thinking deeply, I have a strong look of disdain on my face. In the more racially mixed areas of Minneapolis, while stopped at a light, when people walk across the crosswalk and make eye contact with me, this becomes a problem. Once I was afraid I was going to get my car smashed up.
A group of black teenagers was crossing the street. I was staring off into the distance thinking about some programming problem from work. I had a slight headache, which only makes the look on my face worse. Suddenly they just stopped in the crosswalk, just staring at me, angry. I didn't really notice at first, because, you know, I'm trying to figure out whether I need to add some additional methods to this data structure or if I can solve my problem without that extra work.
Suddenly I noticed what was going on. Instantly I froze my face. At this point I was making the squinty eyed look of pure disdain, looking right into the eyes of some seriously pissed off black teenagers, who have "can you believe this white motherfucker?" looks on their faces.
They are in front of my car. The light is green. I can't move until they do.
I rolled down my window and leaned out. "Can I help you?" I said in a slightly shaky voice, keeping my eyes squinted and face frozen. The two guys off to the side muttered something I couldn't quite hear. But the guy in the middle is just staring at me, slightly leaning on my car, still pissed.
"You would not believe how bad this fucking headache is." I said, entirely, in retrospect, truthfully.
Puzzlement, then smirks, then huge grins. They all looked at each other and shook their heads. "Take it easy man," the guy in the middle said, and they finished walking across the street.