Don't Let Miserable Pricks Steal Your Joy...
Here we are again…I know…it’s been a little while, forgive me. I have been busy doing that whole questioning life and my existence and what it all really means. I thought I knew what the meaning of life was, I had a simple concept, nothing crazy. Just to better yourself by bettering others…life is weird though. Let’s set the scene, shall we?
Like a good chunk of people who walk the Earth, I work in the hospitality industry…I feel it is a good fit for the type of person I am. I love working with people, I like to make people happy, and I like for people to enjoy their experiences. Some people, those I like to call miserable pricks make the job difficult at times.
Picture it…lobby of an upscale restaurant… No problems, smooth night, people smiling, laughing, having a grand old time. Until…
Here she comes…a miserable, crotchety, looking for someone to take her misery out on, we’ll call her Linda. (not her real name). Linda has decided she is already mad at the world because she can’t sit in a specific area that has been rented out for a company Christmas party. Linda does not have a reservation, a party of 5 needing a highchair…she gives me a little bit of attitude when I explain the area is closed for a private party, I then proceed to offer an outside table in a different area of the restaurant. Linda does not want this, so I send her party to a table, Linda is not happy with this table. (Using her name a lot, because Linda seemed to be very full of herself).
She asks to sit in a room set with 6 rows of 4 top tables…I explain to her that I can not place a highchair in between the tables as it is a fire hazard (my understanding), I offer to pull the two 4 tops together (which I am not a fan of doing, because it is kind of a smack in the face to the server)…Linda does not want “such a large table for a small party” and proceeds to push the highchair going in between these tables. I offer another table in a room with a panoramic view of the outside…nope, not having it. I then offer a table in an area with the same view she would get in the room she is demanding, only there isn’t a table next to it, and the highchair could sit in harmony. Linda is not happy. Go figure.
Linda grabs a manager’s card, asks my name, calls me a “fucking ridiculous asshole” and makes her way out the door of the restaurant dragging her 2 children…what a wonderful delight of a mother. 🙄
The point of my post is for a moment, I actually felt like an asshole, I had failed to make this woman happy…but, then I realized it was out of my hands. I couldn’t go against company policy, I offered 3 to 4 other (better) options, I did everything at could to make her happy, but this woman had already made the decision that she was going to argue everything that was offered and I then made the choice to not take it personally…she was taking an obvious bad time she was going through out on me. It’s easy to brush off, but I just wanted to share my story and to lend the advice:
Don’t let miserable pricks steal your joy.
Until next time…