Further with the wonderful month... then on to the "Bama should not speak"...
As I continue to repeat, this is the greatest month, sadly it is about to end. Outside of the milestones I have to say that literally I can tell you about something good from everyday. Now there are not-so-good things as well, but ultimately more good than bad. Case in point this morning...
Late to work (bad) it doesn't really matter because my peers send me to market when I am late- i.e. happy gourmet breakfast for me (good). The guy at one of the counters gives me the biggest pieces of Frittatas (good) today they were pre-cut and small (bad) so he warms them up and charges me less for them (good). He is so sweet I feel bad to tell him that they are not ever for me... he thinks I LOVE them.
on to Celeste's where I actually get breakfast from. Her staff used to wonderful. They close at 2 but there are people there until 4. When I got to work too late to get lunch, she or her head girl would still make me a sandwich or at least let me get ice cream on a super crappy day. Last week I stumbled in at 2:15 and a new girl was counting $. I asked if I could get ice cream and she rolls her eyes and tells me they are closed. Which for all tense and purposes I acknowledge they were, fine. But I am willing to put gloves on and scoop it myself, I would pay more for it- why would you be mean to me? A friend was with me and said something to the effect of "Now you know how everyone else gets treated." Excuse me?
But her breakfast is better than anywhere else, so I show up for a croissant with spinach, tomatoes, and mozzerlla. Same girl rolls her eyes and says she's going to charge me more for the croissant because it is not a biscuit... Celeste walks up and tells her not to- and goes to her oven to pull me a fresher one. I tell Celeste her staff is different and I don't think I will be getting food from anyone but her.
So my office and my friends have a theory that people treat me differently, and in some cases they are right. But I think their theories as to why are wrong.
1. obviously I am not sleeping with all of these strangers and all of these people cannot possibly be wanting to sleep with me
2. some people argue that most of them are not getting anything out of being nice to me, and I slightly disagree
3. the boys obviously say it is a result of how you look (i.e. more or less attractive, more or less expensively clothed, more or less intimidating) in some cases maybe but not necessarily.
I think everybody should work in some aspect of having to deal with the public constantly for a certain amount of time. It will change the way you treat people. There is a way to get better service- ask. don't demand, ask. quietly, politely, making eye contact, and most of all not backing down. I would let ice cream go because they were closed, I'd even pay more for a different type of bread. So if you owned a counter at market, why would you be nice to me? I fully accept I am not the source of your existence- you provide a service for money. I want service, I pay money. Without me, you have a line out the door of people who will give you their money. That said, if you are good to me I will tell everyone in line how great you are. If there is someone pushy and angry, I will let them skip me because I'd rather you dealt with them as fast as possible, so you are less stressed to handle me. I am always happy to see you, and most times that makes you happy to see me. If I could ever help you, rest assured I would. Too often we are not dealing with the people whose business you affect, but their minimum wage representatives. act accordingly.
That was really just too long. Talking to the director of the Big Buddy Program- she is schmucking me into being a buddy- apparently I get all of the little girls who are on the brink of having issues but still more good than bad. Chi-squared calls me a fairy- now they all call me a fairy (Honestly! what bond girl was ever called a fairy?!) and Bama bops over and weighs in- apparently I do not intimidate anybody- he called me a pacifist. in fact he says that's what most people think...me and Ghandi (yes he used the reference). and this point I have to remind myself that it would be rude to right hook him in his jaw- after all there are people around. ick.
4 comments:
There is a lot here:
1. Beautiful girls, a category in which you are undoubtedly included, are very intimidating to at least some people. I was right, Bama is a rockhead.
2. I don't think all the strangers want to sleep with you, but being an attractive young female has at least something to do with it. That being said, you need to understand that I don't intend that as a knock on your character. Clearly, you are a better human being than most of the cretins walking around.
I find that I feel the same exact way you do. What does it take to smile to the person behind the counter, ask how their day is going and speak in a nice tone of voice? It generally does get you better service, but that isn't why we do it.
In short, I find that people get treated about how they should.
3. Being a buddy is cool. I've thought about it so much, but I wonder where I'd get the time.
I promise I'll delete this once you've made the fix. I'm not trying to come off like a know-it-all, but I made the same exact mistake up until a couple years ago.
"tense and purposes" should be "intents and purposes"
Don't feel bad. Up until last year, I used to pronounce epitome "epi-tomb" and I didn't know what 'ambivalence' meant.
G'nite buttercup. Sweet dreams.
good to know! thx.
and the buddy is super easy... it is literally 4 hours a month if you can only make group activities, which still puts you out there as a positive role model. The event for September is painting a piece of pottery at one of those places that one paints, and October we are playing laser tag- it costs you nothing- "big buddy" rents out the whole place. And I am a bit too excited!
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