Quotation of the Day

A few weeks ago at work, I picked up the phone to possibly the rudest woman I've ever spoken to. From the moment I said "hello" and asked how I could help, she was condescending, berating, and overly aggressive - even though I eventually managed to find out that what she wanted was a favor from me.

Though I managed to stay calm and polite throughout our 5-minute conversation (as my brother said, I had to use my "customer service voice", which was reserved for difficult customers when we both worked in retail), I hung up with my hands shaking and my face red with anger. In yoga, we practice "letting go", but for some reason, I couldn't let this one go and I found myself telling John about it that night on our way to the pub for dinner. He was sympathetic and agreed that her behavior was completely out of line. I think she was also aggravated in part by my American accent and "young" sounding voice on the other end of the line.

As we walked into The Lord Clyde on Essex Road, I sat down at the table and looked up to see this sign (above). So very apt. I laughed, and was finally able to "let go".

Isn't it true though? Work hard and be nice to people. So simple, but a pretty good motto to live by. Plus, it's so much harder to be mean than to be nice! For me, being nice doesn't take a lot of effort. The nasty woman on the phone must live a miserable existence if she's trying that hard to be mean, 24/7.