My parents (by way of the Bible) raised me to treat others the way I would want to be treated. "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31) Seems pretty simple, right? You don't want to be treated like a child when its been yeeeears since you've been one? Great. Me either. You don't want to have a loud disagreement in a public place? I'd like to avoid that, too. You don't want to be belittled to the point where you have to walk away for fear of being fired over something you might say and then having to email your deployed husband and telling him to add more money to the "My Husband Is Deployed and I Need Money" Emergency Fund because you've lost your job? Yeah. That would be bad. Clearly, we're on a page...but maybe not the same page of the Bible where that verse is found? (Or maybe you just need to read it again? And then maybe? Again.)
You would think by now, after having worked in retail for over eleven years, I would be used to the way customers act. I would be used to their sarcasm (a language in which I am well-versed), their pettiness, their condescending attitudes, and their general all-around surliness. I'm not. I will never understand how they find it acceptable to treat complete strangers in such a derogatory way. It makes one wonder how they treat their own family and friends if this is how they treat someone they've NEVER MET IN THEIR ENTIRE LIFE. Or maybe it's easier to disrespect someone they don't know (or even care to know) as opposed to someone they love? Not to mention the fact that they're being rude to the one person who can get them what they want. You need to find the book you just mumbled the title of and I had to ask you to repeat yourself? Stop spelling every.single.word. back at me like I'm five and learning to spell. Repeat it calmly and politely and I'll look it up right away. The coffee you just ordered is too hot? Don't yell at me, "Aren't you trained how to make coffee?!" Just say it's too hot and you would like a few ice cubes.
Simple courtesy, my dear readers. It's not that difficult. And it works both ways, absolutely. It's not always the customers. I've definitely heard a few booksellers say things that have made me cringe and wonder how the customer didn't smack that bookseller upside the head. Being polite isn't always easy and I know how frustrating it can be when you can't get exactly what you want exactly when you want it. It's just about being rational and understanding. It's about putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Jesus didn't command us to "love thy neighbor...when they're being friendly and without snarkiness". Love thy neighbor. Period.
(Was my last customer of the day a nasty woman who complained about the books being alphabetized and was so self-centered she couldn't understand why we didn't have a section based on her child's specific school district's specific reading list? Yes. Yes, it was. I understand, lady, that you "would have spent hundreds of dollars here" and now you "will never shop here again"! That's fine. Feel free to shop at the other booksto...Oh, right. Okay. I'll see you the next time your kid needs a book for school. And you know what? I'll STILL be nice to you...and not just because I'm paid to be.)
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