Ok, I have to do it. I have to sound off about something. I have to ask... Why are people so rude?
I know that when people look for services such as massage, they are looking for specific things. They know what makes them comfortable and what does not. To some, a male therapist is not a comforting feeling whether the client be male or female (of course most males prefer female therapists).
When I get a phone call, they usually fall into a few different types. There is the legitimate client who is looking for someone to work on them, and they’ll take anyone if they are good. Then you have the ones that will ask a lot of questions on things like pricing before asking that all important question… Are there any female therapists there? (Like, ask what is most important to you first and quit wasting my time.) Then there are the ones that will simply hang up if a male answers. (I had one of those the other day. I could hear him breathing. I could hear him grumbling. He waited a second or so and then he hung up without saying anything.) Then you have the ones like I got today.
A gentleman (and I’m being polite here) called. He asked several questions about pricing and availability. Then he asked that all important question. I told him that the company consists of... just me. The next thing I heard was ‘click’ as he hung up the phone. He didn’t say thank you. He didn’t tell me he’d call me back (which is just another way of saying you’re not what I want). He just hung up. Now if that isn’t rude, I don’t know what is.
What happened? Did he flunk social etiquette 101? Did his mother not teach him how to play with other children? Maybe there just wasn’t enough room in his personality matrix for kindness and proper manners. Or did he simply take a class on ‘how to live as a rude, ignorant jerk’ when he flunked grade school?
Usually, I just let these things go. But this one, ugh. I really wanted to call up his number and call him back. I wanted to tell him how rude he was. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind (and I don’t have that much to be giving out pieces). I wanted to tell him that I wouldn’t work on someone as rude and ignorant as him if he were the last body on the planet.
What did I do? I took a deep breath, brought in some white light, and ‘cleared the mechanism’. I let go of it knowing that karma will do what is necessary. I don’t need to prove myself a jerk by calling him back and giving him hell. I don’t need to stoop (or in this case crawl) to his level.
But come on folks. Just because you are talking through a telephone, if you do reach a person, that person is... well... a person. They’re not a computer. They have feelings. They don’t just run programs (although I’ve met a few that did).
Please, have a little respect and common courtesy. Those of us that do answer our phones will appreciate it.