Honey vs. Vinegar

I don’t understand people who feel the need to be rude.. I mean.. what’s the point really? Sure, everyone has their bad moods and bad days and all.. but really, why must SOME people just be jerks?

I called a wrong number the other day, and the person on the other end acted as if I had committed some heinous crime. Seriously.. I misdialed.. they answered.. I realized I had the wrong number and said so. At which point I wanted to check the number to see if I had dialled wrong ... I mean, did I dial incorrectly or did I actually have the wrong number..? But before I could even CHECK, Mr. Crankypants on the other end practically screams “YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER!!”.. and then slammed the phone down (speaking of which.. in these days of cordless phones, how does one slam a phone?) Dude, like .. seriously.. I didn’t egg your house, kick your dog, sleep with your wife or key your car... I just made a freakin’ mistake. As it turns out, I DID dial wrong.. I flipped the 2 last numbers.. and I was extremely polite about it.. so I don’t understand how that warrants such rudeness. It almost makes me want to call him back, just to tick him off further. ALMOST... When I get a wrong number, I’m very friendly about the whole exchange. I mean, why be rude?

I was talking to a guy the other day who moved to Canada from another country.. he was commenting that in his hometown, people would walk down the street and say hi to one another ... just being friendly. He tried that once he got to Canada.. walking down the streets of Toronto ...just saying good morning to people on his way to work.. and people looked at him like he was crazy or wearing a clown suit or something. In fact, on several occasions people have gotten angry with him.. I guess they think he’s “up to something”. But, he says he still TRIES to make eye contact and say good morning to people.. most of the time they still look at him like he’s nuts.. but it makes him feel good when someone responds positively ... so he keeps at it.

One time I stopped for gas and then went into pay...as I opened the door, a man barrelled past me, bumping into me and didn’t even apologize. When I got to the counter, the cashier was trying very hard not to cry. At first I acted like nothing was wrong.. but then felt so badly for her I finally told her that I hoped her day got better... and that even though things seemed really rough at the moment, I was sure it would be ok. I was assuming that it was Jackass McBumpy who had something to do with it, but wasn’t sure.. I wasn’t trying to pry... I just was hoping that by being nice to her, that it would make her day a little better. A few days later I went to the same gas station and she was in a much better mood.. happy and cheerful. And she told me that yes, that customer was rude to her because the car wash wasn’t working. Wow. Because that is totally going to pretty much ruin your life if your car isn’t clean RIGHT NOW. And it’s also likely that it was the only car wash in town, too. Holy over reaction Batman.

Long story short, he flipped on her because he had paid for the carwash at the pump...but then discovered that the carwash was out of order. So he went insane. A grown man, screaming at a 16 year old girl because he couldn’t wash his car. Yup, makes total sense. She gave him back his money.. but apparently calling a teenager stupid and using other expletives to express his frustration at having a dirty car is completely logical. Then of course running into me on his way out the door without an apology... yup, probably made him feel like a real manly man.
I can remember when I was a teenager working at Wendy’s... if someone was a jerk going through the drive thru, some of the guys working the grill were known for tampering with the burgers. Yikes.

I make it a practice that even if I am hugely ticked about crappy service I ensure that when I complain I do so in a kindly manner. In fact, expressing my disappointment rather than anger seems to get me way further ahead than if I call and freak. In fact, I’ve received hotel upgrades, free channels on my cable and other stuff as a result of just being NICE when I complain. Plus, you never know who you’re dealing with. I once went into a clothing store looking all kind of dressed down, and they treated me like I had some sort of contagious skin rash... avoiding me and not even coming to the counter while I waited. Surprise Ms. Snotty Stuckup!! I was a secret shopper for a retail awards thingamajiggy.. and let me tell you.. they scored in the negatives... I am like the Simon Cowell of secret shoppers.

I believe that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats their waitress. I was out for dinner recently with someone who was extremely friendly and courteous with the waiter. I love it when people treat their waitstaff nicely. Made me like him even more than I already did. Nothing ticks me off more than someone who treats a server like “the hired help”. I was out on a date one time with a guy who wasn’t happy with his meal and he took it out on the waitress. Needless to say, not only did he not get any type of good night kiss but I never went out with him again. Or spoke to him for that matter. And I certainly hope that the waitress at least spit in his food while in the kitchen.

Life: Well, it's getting interesting
Love: Nothing to report
Pants: I need some new ones. These ones are too big.