I am sure each one of us have been a victim of terrible service in a restaurant or a mall or even at the check-out counter in a grocery store. Well, I have been a recipient of such rude behaviour one too many times. And I have always given the person the benefit of the doubt, although it was a very unpleasant experience for me. I understand the person could be having a bad moment, a bad day or just a bad life. So even when I am treated with such in despicable rudeness, I would smile at the person hoping I could somehow steal a smile or two from their grim and emotionless face. And I need to admit I have even been successful a few times. But most of the times, it is a vain effort. But being the nice person I am :-), I just walk away with a troubled heart which lingers on for hours or even days. So my question is how long can you wait before you lose it? Is it even worth it to do so? Well let me tell you about the first time in my life that I ever lost it.
So this past weekend, we decided to go dine in a fast food restaurant in our neighbourhood. Bad idea! When we walked in, there was nobody ready to take out order, but there were a bunch of people walking around very busy. After waiting for a lil' bit, one gentleman decided to take our order. He didn't start with a "Hello, How are you doing?" or with a "Welcome to xxxx, what can I get you?". Nope, nothing close to that. He started with a scornful "Yes?". Startled by the peculiar query hurled at me, I started to order. And even before I could say "I'll take 1....", the gentleman interrupted me with a deafening "What???". So I repeated again. And this happened for everything I ordered. And all this with a big frown on his face. At one point I was ready to ask him, "Is there anything else you want us to order sir?". And after all this condescending behaviour, he gave us nuggets instead of a cheese burger on the kids meal. And that's it, that was the last straw for me. I lost it. I went crazy. I was like "What the heck dude? Are you offering me a service or am I?". And I went on to say things I don't remember. Apparently I must have said something about him not being friendly, because when I stopped guess what he said. "How are you doing sir???". Then I turned to see the shocked face of my sweet wife. She was like, "Where did that come from?".
Now back to my question. Is it worth it? If you ask me it would be a "Hell NO". That meal was the worst for me in years. I felt terrible. The apology from the manager and a free coupon for a sandwich didn't help much. I felt a little better, when I went over to the obviously shaken up gentleman (don't think he has ever had an Indian dude yell at him before) and apologized to him and wished him a Happy New Year. (Yeah, right!!!). But I was still miserable for a very long time. Longer than the times I felt miserable for rude service and walked out quietly.
So ladies and gentleman, is it worth yelling at people who have been mean to you? No sir! No ma'am! No wonder our good Lord asked us to turn the other cheek!
Peace!
1 comment:
Hi Chicku! Wow amazing post, Sarah and I really enjoyed reading it cos we absolutely agree with you. This is especially what I have been learning of late. Once when we went to a grocery store, the guy at the meat counter was actually very busy and so he was not responding to the customers very well. So I go and ask him for a mutton leg and without even saying anything he turns back and walks inside. I lose it and ask him with a raised voice "Hello, I'm talking to you! Is that the way you respond?" He politely turns back and says "Sir I'm sorry, actually I'm going to get you your leg." Thats it, I just felt terribly miserable. In fact I'm still trying to get over it. There have been a couple of other incidents like that esp this time in Chennai which I feel very bad for. And now I only think 'what would Jesus do' So, its better to feel bad for a couple of days cos somebody was rude than to feel miserable for a much longer time.
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