HOW THEY TREAT YOU

Today was a tough day at the day job. I had just finished what I was working on and one of my coworkers walked right through it and ruined it. This was despite the fact that I had a sign posted alerting passers-by that the section was temporarily closed. Assuming that she might be challenged when it came to literacy, I politely asked if next time she saw that sign, she could please walk around the area. In what can only be described as a very condescending time, she glared and said, “No.”

I was a bit dumbfounded as I have never treated this lady with anything but kindness and respect. I also was raised to respect everyone so her behavior was just not what I was used to. She even asked the boss later, “Why should I respect him?” Clearly, this young lady could benefit from reading my favorite book How to Win Friends and Influence People.

This is not a post about how poorly people treat one another, or how we should respect everyone. No, it is about a mistake I made following this interaction. It also is about having a system in place to address and correct that mistake.

First the mistake. I let this lady’s behavior really affect me. It rather upset my day. When the person who usually makes everyone else happy is unhappy, that didn’t help the overall vibe of the office for the day. This lady, in which should be no surprise, seemed not to care at all.

I know you should not let others control your emotional state. I even teach tools to that effect. You know what else I am? Human. That means in spite of all the knowledge I both have and teach, on occasion life will get the best of me. Especially when someone’s behavior is so out of line in catches me off guard.

Knowledge of tools for success is what saved me from the rest of this day. One of them is surrounding yourself with other people who are passionate about learning to improve themselves. Another one is to foster relationships that allow you both to share knowledge and feelings freely with each other.

To this end, I had several folks which included family, friends and more courteous coworkers, to remind me of what I already know. It is fatal to put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket. Life happens and we are all human. We will forget what we know and make mistakes. That is why it is important to surround ourselves with people who can give us that reminder of what is important and what we should be doing.