Theyearofelan's follow up post to his note passing war with"Diane"
Via. theyearofelan "As some of you know, I had a bit of an altercation today with a woman named Diane on an airplane.
I had a great time antagonizing her, reading your responses, and just generally trying to have fun with an irritating person. But I did have a point and I just want to put it out there.
I know I can come across as abrasive. I know I can seem harsh. But what I’ve never done is be unkind to a person in a service position.
My first job was in a video store. I rewinded tapes and put them back on the shelves. I was a caterer. I put ravioli into divided plates and cut bagels in half for hours at a time. The difference between someone being nice and someone being mean was the difference in how I felt when I went home that night.
I don’t care what’s going on with you: Don’t be rude to people who are doing their job.
Don’t do it.
Don’t dismiss them. Don’t act like they are less than you. Don’t abuse them just because you’re the customer and “The Customer Is Always Right.”
If you’re the customer, you’re only right if you’re kind, polite and positively thankful. If you’re not, you’re a jerk, and that’s the bottom line.
A lot of people have been really nice to me and called me a hero today. It’s really fun to hear but it’s not true.
Our troops are heroes. Fire fighters and policemen are heroes. Doctors and teachers are heroes. Flight attendants and pilots and waiters and baristas… These are the people that make things work in this crazy world.
What I did today was just point out something we all know: Be nice. It’s Thanksgiving. Be nice.
Be nice everyday, but if you see a man or a woman working on a holiday you better respect that they would like to be with their family too.
So have some compassion and have some appreciation.
Most people do. Most people are great. And then there are a bunch of Diane’s in the world.
And it’s OUR job to tell every Diane to shut up.
It’s OUR duty to put the Diane’s of the world in their place.
We need to REMIND them about the way of things.
We outnumber them.
So, I’m really glad we had fun today, but I really hope you guys join me, look a jerk in the eye, and tell them to eat a piece of your body, because really, that’s what the holidays are all about." As a Flight Attendant, I appreciate this! Thanks for standing up for us Elan!
