What is it that irks you?
I’m going to be lame and say that very few things really
bother me to the cringe-worthy, red-fuming temperament that a lot of people get
with certain pet-peeves. I think that I have too much empathy and thus I spend
too much time concerning myself with the context behind pet-peeve-like
situations.
Don’t get me wrong, I have moments of utter anger (usually
when I’m driving or when my brother is picking on me), but within two minutes I
feel really guilty because I know that I was probably in the other person’s
shoes once upon a time and I should not judge them. Judging them would make me
a hypocrite, and I would rather not be one of those.
Say, for instance, I am driving and I’m cut off by another
driver – I get mad because I have this preconceived notion (that I believe a
lot of people have) where the smoothness of my day is more important than the
other person’s. I ask them, probably aloud in my car, “Why couldn’t you have
waited?!” Then I evaluate the situation – was there a huge line-up of cars
behind me so they would have to wait a long time? Does it really affect my day
that much to slow down a little bit and have my heart pumping? Am I hurt at
all? No. But most people seem to focus on the what ifs. I just don’t focus on that in these situations, and that
person is just as qualified for a smooth day as I am. For the most part...
However, there are occasions where I absolutely do not
tolerate people’s behaviours. This is where customer service has been a
hindrance on my views of humankind. Though my girlfriend tends to disagree, I
believe I was raised in a family that practiced good manners – especially in
public settings – and some people just don’t have that whatsoever. For example,
I worked at the local gas station in my home town and there was a public
washroom in the station. For some reason people assumed you needed a key for
this washroom door. There was no key.
If the door was locked, just like most washroom doors, it was occupied. I
understand that a lot of gas station washrooms do require keys, but there was
no indication of such at this particular station (in fact, we put up a sign
specifying there was no key needed). So, when I was working at the cash
register people would come up and they wouldn’t ask for a key to use the
washroom. You read it right; they would NOT
ask for a key. They would simply get my attention – while busily ringing people
through – and rudely gesture a key motion at me as if I should know what they’re
talking about. Albeit, I did know what they were talking about, but we are
civilized humans that use a wonderful thing called language. Because this made me so mad, I would pretend that I didn’t
know what they were talking about and make them voice what they were
requesting. Most times it often led to angry conversations and name-calling on
their part. For some reason it gave me a weird satisfaction to make them mad,
but none of them ever learned their lesson. There must have been a better way
to handle that, but it downright pissed me off, so I didn’t care.
Essentially, it’s the uncalled for rude situations that
really set me off, usually they could have been handled a lot better – if only
people would think about how other people would react before they execute
certain communications. I definitely have moments like this too, and that irks
me more than anything. But, you live and learn I guess. And I will have to
expect that there will always be people that piss me off.
Until next time,
Dillon
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