Her self-entitled tone and dismissiveness bubbled under a quiet voice. She spoke quietly and calmly, but wanted to make a scene. She wanted something she thought she was entitled to. By talking over me, she could convince me that her point of view was the correct one.The flick of her hair in my direction while I was speaking, spoke volumes.
We are one week away from Christmas Day, and the stresses and strains of the festive period are upon us all. How we all cope with the pressure varies from person to person. Some deal with it better than others.Personally, I think that an awful lot of undue Christmas burden stems from last minute shopping and the expectation of dealing with family and friends. We all go through this, but nothing gives anyone the right to speak down to a stranger - no matter what the time of year is.
Call it age or wisdom, but my tolerance for nonsense has decreased over the past number of years. I keep myself up to date and informed with local, national and world events. I keep abreast of current trends and new technology. I read voraciously and take immense pride in how I do my job. With experience, I think I have become quite skilled in reading body language and spotting the non-verbal communication that speaks loudest.A couple of nights ago, I was asked to deal with a situation that involved an unhappy young lady. She spoke to my colleagues in a terse and cocky tone, something that you wouldn't normally associate with a girl of her youth. We were trying to solve her issue, but technology was failing us. Her patience was fast running thin and when it did run out, her snobbish attitude moved onto a higher level.
Her conceited and disdainful opinion spoke down to my colleagues. Her self-righteous points of view were correct in her head. She overlapped one hand on top of the other, with her fingers drumming the hand underneath. She stared off into nothing, indicating her annoyance.Her eyes were filled with contempt, before I even spoke. I introduced myself and shook her hand lightly. Her limp and insincere handshake told me right off that she wasn't interested in anything I had to say. I asked what the problem was and made eye contact. When she did make contact it was telling me of the "torture" she was enduring. I let her finish talking before I addressed her issues.
She interrupted me on multiple occasions. I never showed her that disrespect.I stated the facts regarding her problems and how we were trying to resolve them. I was honest saying that one of her issues were outside my control and there was nothing I could physically do. She just needed to be patient.
Then she started getting personal, telling me she knew more about my job than I clearly did. She knew about the perks of my job and the begrudgery in her face was evident.
She wasn't listening to my point of view and I knew that. She knew that we were trying our best, but she was so deep into her point of view that admitting she was wrong would have been detrimental to her argument. Her attitude stank to high heaven and she was adamant she was in the right. The people around her were embarrassed by her pompous and patronising demeanour. Their glances simply said "she's an eejit."
In the end, what we did worked and we didn't receive any thanks. Technology came to our aid and we left her well enough alone. Giving her more attention would feed her ego, confirming her beliefs.
As she left our company I sincerely wished her a "Happy Christmas." She looked down her pointy nose at me and gave me a look that may as well have said "you're beneath me."
I was professional and held her stare.
But inside I wanted to shout "Bah Humbug!!!!"
