Being a “work-from-homer” I rarely get out of the house during the weekdays, unless it’s to the store or the gym. I don’t know what it is lately, but I’ve noticed a pattern in the people I meet when I actually do get out of the house to run errands. I seem to have developed an uncanny knack for encountering the most miserable people in the world whenever I visit any store or other service oriented business. “Up north” here in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York you get this snobby 
Yankee rudeness that I’m pretty used to. It’s nothing like down south, where people actually have common courtesy, are warmhearted, and generally friendlier towards their neighbors. I was born and raised in New England, but that doesn’t mean we’re all like that. I’ve heard about parts of Cali; supposedly some areas out that way are pretty much the same way as Connecticut can be. Oh, the lack of humanity.
Recently, I stopped at the local town library to borrow one of the seasons of LOST dvds that I hadn’t watched in a while. I usually just use the local RedBox, but seeing I was passing by, I figured I’d run in and get all the disks in one shot. We pay taxes, and that’s what these places are supported by anyway. Plus, if you return the videos late they get $1 per day per dvd out of you anyways. Anyway, I was treated pretty rudely by a middle aged woman working there. I’m a happy go lucky type of guy, waiting patiently at the counter for assistance for a good 2 minutes or so. The lady was sitting way off to the side, and I presumed she was not working that same area. She was over at the reference desk, or something. The fact I was just standing there quietly made her wise-alecky off the bat, when she finally noticed me standing there.
She remarked, “You know… I’m not going to know you’re standing there unless you say something.”
“Oh, that’s okay – I’m not in a rush, no problem”, I replied. It wasn’t a big deal, I mean – I was standing there for only 2 minutes, not 20. Gosh. She then proceeded to check out my items, only to notice that I had six dvd’s, and I guess five is the limit per person. Do you think she was going to let that one slide? No way, she went to town on me.
“You know, you are only allowed five videos per visit,” in a pretty snotty voice. I can imagine her getting even hotter with annoyed anger towards me, inside. I’m thinking, “Oh crap, now look what I went and did. I poked the sleeping lion with a stick, and I’m the one wearing T-Bone steak underwear.”
“Oh, no problem – my mistake. Here, I’ll take this one out – I’ll be right back, let me return it back to the shelf so you guys don’t have to later.” I know how much of a pain it is to return library items to their places. I used to do it when I volunteered there. So I ran it back, and then returned to the desk. Ding round three.
“You know you have a late fee due on the following items…” I’m pretty sure they didn’t have my face up on a wanted poster in the back room for this violation. I didn’t have the cash on me, so I asked if I could pay it next time.
“Yes, you can pay it whenever you’d like.”
In the meantime an older woman that looked like she was around 85 butts in, “Are those DEE VEE DEE’s?”
“Yes, they are,” I responded. By this point I’m thinking to myself, “Good lord… what am I in the twilight zone or something?” Little old lady goes, “I have one of those machines and I don’t even know how it works!” I just smiled. I’m usually a conversationalist but seeing that I was just trying to get in and out of my encounter with miss thang, I didn’t engage.
The librarian checked my items out, and then proceeded to explain the expiration date and late fee arrangement on the items, yada yada, talking down to me like it was the first time I had ever visited a library. I killed her with kindness at that point, even more – “thank you very much. You take care now.” The look on her face was so funny. It’s like she was thinking, “Why is this guy being so friendly to me, after I just treated him like a piece of crap?” Kill people with kindness the next time they are rude to you. It will either A: piss them off more, B: confuse the heck out of them, or C: change their attitude around entirely.
The whole time I was standing at the counter, not being attended to, I was actually waiting patiently for another librarian I was friendly with, who was in the back room talking on the phone. I used to work at this same library as a volunteer, back when I was younger. The library director even knows me, and we always chat it up when I bump into him. I wonder if this new grumpy lady would have treated me differently if I had started name dropping? I just got a kick out of how irritated she seemed. It was like straight up DMV employee or postal worker syndrome. You have to give people the benefit of the doubt, because they could be going through some really tough time in their life. You never know what you’re about to experience when you’re dealing with the general public. I’ve worked those customer service retail positions for years, and believe you me, I could probably write a behavioral psychology book just on the people I’ve met.
Dear miserable employees of the world… please just try to smile. It goes a long way. Cheese up from the feet up! Please lay off drinking your daily six pack of haterade. I’m not the reason your baby daddy left you, and isn’t paying his child support. I also wasn’t the one that hit your cat with my Pontiac. I’m sorry life has dished you such a terrible job, with crappy pay, but that doesn’t make it my fault, is it? Take a deep breath, remember to be thankful that you still have a job in this tough economy, and try and be at least a little courteous. You don’t have to bubble forth or even make small talk with me, but that would be fine too. If you really hate your job so much, try and start taking the steps to find something better. If you can’t afford to go to school, keep on looking until you find something else. Let your hatred for your existing position motivate you! I know that’s what I did – back when I was working my college job. You are actually in control of your own life, as dreamy and amazing as that might sound.
Remember, kids – if you enjoy your job, be thankful. If you don’t, you should still try be nice to people. Turn that frown upside down! The golden rule, and whatnot – it’s pretty legit. Stick to it, and live a happier life. Cheerfulness is contagious. Generally, most people around you will even be easier to deal with, if you just smile.
That’s my public service message for 2010 – maybe for 2011 I’ll talk about the importance of spaying and neutering your pets. Nah, we’ll leave that one to Bob Barker and Drew Carey. And watch out for the angry rabid geese.
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