The smile at the information desk

Text: an original contemporary volunteering-memoir-style practice extract.

At the festival information desk, I smiled whenever someone approached. At first the smile followed my mood. I liked knowing where things were and helping visitors find them. By the afternoon, the smile arrived before I had heard the question, as automatic as moving a leaflet across the table.

One visitor asked for a bus time we had already printed on a large board. Another complained about a reading being full. I answered both pleasantly while feeling an impatience I did not want either person to receive. They had only just arrived; they could not know how many similar conversations lay behind mine. When a colleague offered to take over, I said I was fine. It was the same answer I had been giving visitors about the weather.

Behind the desk, out of sight, I let my face settle. I was not suddenly unhappy, and I had not spent the day pretending to care. I had cared while also becoming tired of showing care in exactly the same visible shape. After ten minutes away, I returned and found the next smile easier to mean.

In this extract, the writer tries to reveal a contrast between outward calm and private strain.

Evaluate how successfully this is achieved. Support your views with detailed reference to the extract.