We all have our pet peeves and our threshold of what we can tolerate. For someone, one thing could be intolerable and to another person, that one thing doesn't really bother them at all. I have something that just gets to me. I don't find this too often in people but when I do it drives me a bit nutty.
Today I answered the phone at work. The lady on the other end, who I couldn't hear very well due to her soft-spoken voice, asked if we carried a certain designers fabric. I knew that we didn't regularly carry this very distinctive designers fabric, and told the woman so and told her that a shop in the town south of us did and she could try there. She asked again if we carried this fabric. When I told her that we didn't she told me that a friend was in the store and saw it. (Well why did you even ask me if you already knew it was in the store?) I asked if she had a skew number and then she said we had it on our website. (Now if I was a referee on a football field I would have called a foul for withholding!) Seriously, I was getting agitated. I told her that I would look this up on our website. I don't think people understand that we can not see the fabric that they can see in their heads...the picture just doesn't transfer and we have thousands of bolts of fabrics to reference.
Once I located the fabric she was asking about, she wanted to know if we had the other one. I asked, "Do you mean the green one?" Yes, and she named the name. Another thing I do not think people understand is that we don't go around calling fabrics by their proper names. Usually, we look at fabric for their color value or just the design that is on it.
She wanted to know how much we had. I counted the folds and told her both had three yards. She was irritated with me. Irritated because I didn't know exactly what she wanted? Irritated because I didn't know exactly what she was referring to? She came off smug and condescending. It was slight but loud and clear. You see, I am from a town where people can be very stuck up and for no reason. I can hear it in a tone and a very subtle slight. My receptors are fine-tuned to this and I find it so off-putting. I literally can not understand this type of behavior. It is so self-serving. I want to award this type of behavior with a necklace that is engraved with these words, "Your ugly is showing."
I took her information to process the order. She was from out of state and didn't come into the shop. Her closing remarks were, "You have other "designer's name" fabrics in your store." I smile and said in a nice "okay thank you". I think I heard a smug little laugh over the line. Oh well, how you treat others is really a reflection of yourself.
What drives me nutty about condescending smug behavior is that the person comes off as if they think they are superior to you. Are we not all in this life together? Shouldn't we be trying to communicate in a way that others can understand? We do not play the game of life with the same rules obviously!
Lesson: Always write and speak to the dumby reader/listener. When I was in school I was taught to write as if the person reading had no knowledge of what I was writing about. That was the teacher's way of telling her students to give lots of details and information. When talking to someone, do the same, no one can read minds!
Today I answered the phone at work. The lady on the other end, who I couldn't hear very well due to her soft-spoken voice, asked if we carried a certain designers fabric. I knew that we didn't regularly carry this very distinctive designers fabric, and told the woman so and told her that a shop in the town south of us did and she could try there. She asked again if we carried this fabric. When I told her that we didn't she told me that a friend was in the store and saw it. (Well why did you even ask me if you already knew it was in the store?) I asked if she had a skew number and then she said we had it on our website. (Now if I was a referee on a football field I would have called a foul for withholding!) Seriously, I was getting agitated. I told her that I would look this up on our website. I don't think people understand that we can not see the fabric that they can see in their heads...the picture just doesn't transfer and we have thousands of bolts of fabrics to reference.
Once I located the fabric she was asking about, she wanted to know if we had the other one. I asked, "Do you mean the green one?" Yes, and she named the name. Another thing I do not think people understand is that we don't go around calling fabrics by their proper names. Usually, we look at fabric for their color value or just the design that is on it.
She wanted to know how much we had. I counted the folds and told her both had three yards. She was irritated with me. Irritated because I didn't know exactly what she wanted? Irritated because I didn't know exactly what she was referring to? She came off smug and condescending. It was slight but loud and clear. You see, I am from a town where people can be very stuck up and for no reason. I can hear it in a tone and a very subtle slight. My receptors are fine-tuned to this and I find it so off-putting. I literally can not understand this type of behavior. It is so self-serving. I want to award this type of behavior with a necklace that is engraved with these words, "Your ugly is showing."
I took her information to process the order. She was from out of state and didn't come into the shop. Her closing remarks were, "You have other "designer's name" fabrics in your store." I smile and said in a nice "okay thank you". I think I heard a smug little laugh over the line. Oh well, how you treat others is really a reflection of yourself.
What drives me nutty about condescending smug behavior is that the person comes off as if they think they are superior to you. Are we not all in this life together? Shouldn't we be trying to communicate in a way that others can understand? We do not play the game of life with the same rules obviously!
Lesson: Always write and speak to the dumby reader/listener. When I was in school I was taught to write as if the person reading had no knowledge of what I was writing about. That was the teacher's way of telling her students to give lots of details and information. When talking to someone, do the same, no one can read minds!
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