Being Friendly can Brighten your Day!

I have been in a relatively bad mood all day, but even so, I was not mean to people who I had no right to be mean to, ie: strangers. I was thinking about this and wondered why are people, especially those in the customer service industry, so mean?! Of course, not everyone in the industry is mean and I realize that everyone has a bad day now and then. However, I was in one of the worse moods I have been in in a long time, and I managed to put a smile on my face, hold doors open for people, and even say hello to people on the streets and in stores. So.....

So why are people who are suppose to be selling things or making sure your shopping or retail experience is pleasant, so awful and just so mean sometimes?! Immediately brought to my mind is our current landlord (we are moving in 1 week thank God!). We move in and the following day are being woken up at 9:00am saying that it is an emergency. Want to know what the emergency was? We left some garbage in the dumpster that apparently we were not suppose to leave there. There were no signs or management around when we put it there, so how were we suppose to know?!? Anyways on that morning, we were threatened to be kicked out by her saying "I don't want people like you living in my apartments" and not to mention a $500 fine. I had no problem paying the fine, or taking care of whatever else needed to be taken care of. But when I tried to explain that we didn't know and the situation we were in, I could not get a word in edgewise. She just continued yelling. And even when I said "I'll pay whatever fine there is" Her response?! "Oh, I know you will, I am sending you the letter and bill right now and I want it no later than this Friday". I was like "Whaaaatttt?!?!" This was a very unprofessional and RUDE way to handle any kind of business matter, especially in a company that owns apartment complexes all over boston and is a huge realtor.

My problem is that you don't treat people like they are a piece of c$#p. It is not necessary and in the long run it does not get you very far.

I know people who are mean to clients/customers. In return, they end up dealing with more grumpy, unpleasant people, and of course just complain further about this. If you are mean to someone they usually will return the tendency. I have found, in my 22 years of experience in dealing with people, that if you are nice to people, they are generally nice to you in return, EVEN IF they are in a bad mood or just plain miserable.

So here is a challenge to anyone who reads this: Make it your personal goal to be nice to people all day and observe how people act towards you in response.

And to all of you people out there who are...well...just jerks...... try a smile and some optimism, you might be surprised how much further it will take you!

Until next time my friends....ciao! =) (and thanks for listening to me rant!)