A constant lesson in frustration: other people

The title really does say it all. Other people are a constant lesson in frustration.

“I love mankind; it’s people I can’t stand.” — Charles M. Schulz

At one of the bookstores where I used to work, I had a district manager who used to pop out such gems as “my perception of you is your reality” and “you are the person I think you are.” Mostly I think he was a Tool for the Corporate Culture, but he did sort of have a point. If I don’t know you at all and the first time you talk with me you are a total ass, then 100% of the times I have dealt with you, you have been a total ass. You know, as opposed to if I see you every other day for five years and maybe three times you behave like an ass – that’s hardly even worth mentioning. But the first situation? That’s not going to want to make me deal with you again.

So if I have to email you – and this is completely hypothetically, of course – but if I were to have to email you three times and say “I can’t help you, but good luck with that!” and you … keep… on… emailing me… insisting that you are right and I can so do what you want me to do… I may start ignoring you. Or I may get really bitchy. It’s a toss-up!

It may also cause me to be unintentionally bitchy to the next person with whom I interact, for which I’m really quite sorry.

Oh, and here’s another tip – if you email me at the beginning of a  month to ask me a question, and I get back with you within 24 hours, and you don’t get back with your response within about a week or so, I am going to assume that you’re not interested. So if you contact me about six weeks later with an emergency that you want me to solve for you, I’m not going to be overly sympathetic! Especially if you (1) ask me for things I don’t have to give, followed by (2) asking me to ignore that and just send you a bunch of other things that I don’t have, quickly; followed by (3) telling me that you don’t want them at all, and finishing up with (4) sending me an entire new list of needs. Not only am I going to tell you that I can’t help you (but good luck with your endeavors!) but I may roll my eyes at you. And you might show up on my blog when I need to vent. THIS IS ALL HYPOTHETICAL OF COURSE.

And I’m not saying that I’ve never given anyone the wrong impression of who I am, or never been needlessly bitchy to some poor person who thanks to cruel fate was on the receiving end of my bad day.

But really? To get all this in the same couple of days? REALLY?

It’s a good thing that something really fucking magical happened this week or I’d be a lot more stabby than I am!