<rant> Trouble w/people; lacking respect

[Harmon]

Recently I have had a number of run ins with people, and I have been thinking about this and wonder to myself- “Self, do you have some sort of magnetic anomaly that draws the people to you or are you just that much of a brutish looking dill weed that people just want to treat you like this?”

What the hell is Harmon talking about this time (in the third person no doubt). Well a couple of examples-

- In Tar Get the other day, the wife is trying to return a baby monitor that does not work and we have no recite for- “ma’am you have returned $90 of no recite merchandise to us in the last month, you will have to wait a year to return this.”

My cell rings (I am back in the electronics area looking at DVDs), and she explains, so I drop the five DVDs on the rack and wheel the kid (the babe is usually with me) out the front door- I will return it to another store and get our money back there.

In front of our car at the distant end of the nearly empty parking lot some dill weed has picked the spot right in front of our car to park his truck. So we are talking about the “customer service” and I said something like (mind you I am in the driver’s seat and I am talking into the mirror- the wife is in the back near Bug)- “what a dumb arse mother <filter>.”

The dork gets out of his truck as I am backing up- “You talking to me!” Its obvious this guy just wants to fight.

“You are coming after a car with a baby in it? What are you stupid?” my wife calls to him. I just showed him a bird and drove calmly away.

Today a woman with no fewer then four kids with her is helping one of the with the paper on his ice cream cone. Another kid drops his paper on the ground at his feet, a trash can not three feet away. “You should put that in a trash can,” I told the kid as I grabbed up the paper and tossed it away.

“What the <filter> did you say, mother <filter>er?” the woman went off.

“Your kid tossed his trash on the ground-“

She jumped all over me- I zoned her out thinking that she was having a bad day, and she was just a half step away from a Springer show.

“Whatever- you dumb ditch,” I shook my head and walked away. She called a few less then kind words after- ‘she’s doing this in front of her kids! In front of her kids! Whow! She has to be one great parent.’

I have a thousand of these it seems, and I am getting tired of this kind of treatment. My Dad would say something like- “when you get tired enough of it you will change what ever it is that you do that makes people react this way.” Ya, more constructive help from him.

Anyone else out there having an increasing level of dork issues?

 

[Treebore]

I think your on to something with the magnet.

 

[Ranger REG]

Anyone else out there having an increasing level of dork issues?

Not lately, thanks to you. More dorks going toward you means less dorks coming toward me.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

You sure seem to have a way with people.

 

[soulforge]

Yep.. Quite the nature you have with people.

There's some crazy people in this world.

 

[DerianCypher]

I get stuff like this all the time at work. But then again, I'm a customer service manager and people like yelling at us for all their problems...

 

[orchid blossom]

In Tar Get the other day, the wife is trying to return a baby monitor that does not work and we have no recite for- “ma’am you have returned $90 of no recite merchandise to us in the last month, you will have to wait a year to return this.”

Slightly off-topic here, but this is a standard practice at many retail stores.

My first job was in a shoe dept of a discount department store (local name place.) Their policy was to take back anything reciept or not. I would get shoes obviously worn to death, often in barns. People would bring them back, trade them for a new pair, and never pay for shoes again. After a while the store finally had to start keeping track of people who did this and after five no reciept returns they would no longer accept them.

Stores lose a lot of money to return fraud and in the last few years they've been getting really strict. They don't know you from anyone else, and just because you look like a nice little family doesn't mean you aren't trying to scam them. You know that, but the bigwigs who set the policy don't and the person working the return desk doesn't have the authority to break the policy.

On the other hand, that policy should be clearly posted at the return desk. Something like "Store X will only accept $75 of no receipt returns per customer, per year," or something like that.

 

[Chimera]

“Whatever- you dumb ditch,” I shook my head and walked away. She called a few less then kind words after- ‘she’s doing this in front of her kids! In front of her kids! Whow! She has to be one great parent.’

Ahem. You're doing that in front of her kids too.

If you step down to that level, you don't have much of a right to complain about the level of interaction.

That being said, sometimes it's eminently satisfying to step down...


Back in my day, if you complained to parents about the actions of their kids, there was a good chance that the parents would apologize to you, then beat the crap out of the kid. Nowadays there's every chance the parents will swear and threaten to beat the crap out of you for daring to say anything about their kid.


I'd have been half tempted to, rather than inflame the situation with more words, wait for them to settle down, then pick up the piece of garbage, walk up behind them, stick it down back of the kid's shirt and say "Pardon me, but you dropped this".

Then adopt defensive posture while quickly backing off, because the Mom is going to go bat guano mental.

 

[Umbran]

I have a thousand of these it seems, and I am getting tired of this kind of treatment. My Dad would say something like- “when you get tired enough of it you will change what ever it is that you do that makes people react this way.” Ya, more constructive help from him.

Anyone else out there having an increasing level of dork issues?

I don't see too many such issues. And I'm a "you reap what you sow" kind of guy.

You curse in public, flip people the bird, call them bad things in front of their children? If you were on the other end of this, you'd probably not seem all that respectful yourself. What people "deserve" is not the point, and "They started it" may make it in the schoolyard, but you're a parent, and should be thinking beyond that.

As usual, the Golden Rule applies - you cannot expect the rest of the world to be better, unless you yourself are better.

 

[Harmon]

Wordy reply

(No disrespect meant, and all the humblness I can muster is within my words)

Reaping what one sows does not work with the way I have lived and the way that I perceive all the good that I have done and all the evil and misdeeds that I have seen.

What in my past would have brought about the child hood I had- drug and alcohol addicted parents- I never would have though that an infant could bring that down upon his own world as that is when it started.

I have sown some worthy things- stopping to change a couple dozen strangers tire. Our Good Vill clothing donation in April went to a family here that lost their house in a fire, as well as some canned food. Giving up my shopping hand basket in the grocery store for woman with to many items and not enough for thought to think she might need a hand basket. Giving blood every couple months. I have only ever needed to use my jumper cables for one of my own vehicles once yet the set I have been used a dozen plus times. How many coats have I given away? Dinners have I purchased for those less fortunate. Gifts I have purchased for families in need that never knew whom bought them?

I have never stolen anything yet I am always being followed by store security.

In Tahoe a couple Novembers ago, on our way out of town we stopped to have breakfast at Lenny’s. Outside the front door huddled in a sleeping bag was a homeless guy. When we ordered our food, I ordered a soup to go, when it came I took it outside and placed it before the sleeping man’s face with a spoon. Returned inside to finish my breakfast. The guy came in- wanting to thank who ever it was, but no one spoke up. He left with his soup and my wife asked why I had said nothing- “its near Christmas.” “You hate Christmas?” “Not today.”

As I said I give blood often at the blood bank, have no idea how much I have given but I recall something about gallons a couple years ago (though I must admit the last year I have not been as its been difficult times for us and my health is not perfect right now).

The people I spoke of in the previous post seemed not to be the type to consider any of this.

I did pick up the woman’s child’s trash first, throw it away, but what did she go for? The instant attack. The guy in the truck, not being part of the conversation he jumped on the idea that I was talking about him, rather then believe that I might be talking about something else with my wife. Why? Because people right now assume that everything is about “me,” he must be talking about “me,” everyone talks about me.

It is rude to speak the way I did to the woman, to drive off instead of explain to the fellow that I was not speaking of him. A month ago I would have stopped and explained, if he had wanted to fight I would have backed away, if I could not escape well he might have stomped me into the ground, but not without me doing some stomping too.

So often people misunderstand me, or think I am being aggressive and that might well be the problem, but I am not.

I have written this more for myself, then you all here at EN. I feel the need to defend against judgment that has been placed in this thread and others that I have brought up, and for that I apologize.

Take care all, I think, by what I have read here and by the way I feel right now that a few days away might do me some good.