September 7th, 2006 by The Bosphorus
The Missus just asked me what I’m going to post about. I said, “rude customers”. “Did you have one today,” she asked. I said “no, but yesterday one came through that was exuding such evil energy, that she had my hands shaking.”
This is the second beligerant patron that has come through the library in as many weeks. What’s up with that? Do people think they’re entitled to “sudden service?” People yell, cuss and act like fools and… it works. It gets them service and that sucks. (Well it doesn’t always work. I have had to kick people out because of their bad behavior.)
The flip side of this is one’s reaction to such knuckle-heads. Some of the folks at work were still talking about it and telling the story over and over. (In all fairness, I’m telling you about it, too. That’s different, though, because this is a blog.) They seemed to be worrying their memory of the event like a stone in a pocket.
I don’t know if it is some sort of Jedi training that one must possess, but a customer service type has to have a certain sort grace. The ability to allow such evil energy to pass by without sticking. That evil energy has to be deflected, or rather neutralized. It will just eat a hole through your stomach lining otherwise. I can feel that nast action sometimes.
There’s the trick. Sometimes I do better rolling with the punches than at other times. So, I have to take it easy with myself, too. Have to lower my expectations, somewhat. Not to expect less of others, but rather not to desire such unattainable perfection out of myself. I’ll expect others to behave as they do, then deal with them as circumstances, rules and regulations demand.
Just don’t be a jerk, come on.
September 7th, 2006 at 8:31 pm
So… what did she do?
Or are you trying to let it go all zen-like?
September 7th, 2006 at 8:35 pm
You know, I wasn’t even there for all of it. She wanted to get on one of the computers, but didn’t have the patience to wait for us to help her. So she went into overdrive. She was yelling and pointing fingers. Saying we’d denied her assistance twice.
September 7th, 2006 at 8:39 pm
She ended up with a computer. I don’t think that was the wrong solution. I just don’t see were people get off behaving like that.
I know, it happens all the time. I see it. That’s why I think there have to be practical ways of dealing w/ such knuckle-heads.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Y’know, I kinda subscribe to the thinking that its be my job, as the consumer/patron/peer in line behind idiots like that, to point out the fact that they’re being asses. Business protocol prevents the employee being abused to stand up for himself, so I like to take one for the team.
That, and I like confronting assholes.
September 7th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
” . . . I like confronting assholes.”
At the Oak Ridger Forum, I found this becoming a full-time job. I’m glad you started posting again, AT.
September 8th, 2006 at 6:29 am
Naa, I see evil bastards like this woman in the library to be a much lower order of creature than what can be found on a board. I think a lot of the problem with the O.R. forums is that unlike you and I, many of these folks don’t have a lot of nettiqutte (jesus, I hate that word) experience, and it makes them come off a lot more brusque then they intend.
Sure, some are assholes.
But I’ve labeled a lot of your hard bodyslams on the forum assholish in the past, so, y’know, there you go.
Certainly several of my posts here were written by an asshole.
However, people like this evil bitch in the library, or the person at the grocery store yelling at the 16 year old cashier need to be taken out and beaten for the common good.
September 8th, 2006 at 6:32 am
Assholes need to be confronted more often.
Thanks much for that, AT.