abcdefz
08-12-2010, 06:53 PM
Dang. I've been on kind of a roll being nice and friendly to strangers and whatnot.
But I think maybe I need to be more vigilant about patience. Today was the weekly homeless outreach and I caught myself from being
impatient with some of the people.
We started bringing food to the picnic area before our own tables had arrived, and some of the homeless came and sat down where the
food was, though it was clear we weren't serving yet. So we're trying to set up the coffee table and the water supply and people
started sitting there, too, which meant I had to keep moving the coffee and water and creamers, stirrers, and sugar a little further
down so others would have access to them. Why would you sit down right in front of a coffee dispenser other people are trying to
get to? So I kind of took a breath and moved them again.
There wasn't much creamer and people were dumping about a full inch on top of the coffee. I asked people to please go easy on
it so there would be enough, and that seemed to make folks want to hog it all the more.
Anyway, I got through the morning without being mean, except arguably to the guy who asked me for another bottled water when
he already had a full one he hadn't touched. I said "You've got a full one there" and moved on. We really didn't have enough to be
handing out spares until we knew everyone had gotten at least one. Plus, if he drank that off, he could refull it at the cooler.
Also, he was one of the guys who was blatantly in the way of the coffee and water to start with, so I think I wanted to "punish"
him in some way. I wasn't rude exactly -- just said what I said and moved on.
So anyway. Later I was at the library and had picked out some DVDs. It was a branch library, so there were only three checkout
machines, and two of the three had people were were checking out, like, twenty or thirty items each. (For some reason, I see
Vietnamese doing this a lot. They'll get dozens of DVDs and videos at a time.) At the third station was a kid of about 16 who
was methodically checking out maybe six.
All you do is put the item under the scanner, wait for the punching sound to indicate that the item was checked out and
demagnitized, and then do the next one. Each item should take five seconds, ten tops.
This kid would put the DVD on the machine, then slowly edge it to the scan area, going slower as he approached the red laser
shining down. What the heck? These people with thirty might get done faster.
I'm standing there for minutes waiting on these people. (Yeah -- sad that I think "minutes" is such an inconvenience, but
anyone who's ever been irritated by people in line who are unneccesarily pokey know what I'm talking about.)
The kid finally finishes. He carefully presses the pound sign to indicate that he's done. The machine prints his receipt. All he's
gotta do is take his DVDs and receipt and he's out of there.
He unzips his backpack and reaches in. He's got a book he lays carefully on the desk. He takes the DVDs, squares the stack,
then sort of debates which way to put them in his backpack. At least he's standing to one side now; if he just takes his receipt,
the machine is cleared and I can step in and do my thing.
Now he's thinking about putting them in his bag face down, and the back of one of the DVDs has caught his eye. He starts
reading it.
Um. Take the receipt, son.
He's slowly putting the DVDs in his bag now, still reading.
Nope -- let's put them in face up, he decides, so the DVDs come back out and he puts them in.
He picks up the book to place on top of the DVDs, and now he's trying to figure out which way that should go in.
He places the book on top, and now starts to zip the bag, but another zipper catches his eye and he unzips a different pocket.
Now he's working on two different pockets and I couldn't help myself. With a frustrated laugh I stepped up, pulled the reciept
from the machine, said, "You can take your receipt" or something like that, and put my card on the scanner. He muttered
"I'm sorry" and went on messing with the zippers.
I felt like a jerk as soon as I did it and was pretty surprised at myself. I checked out my DVDs and left.
I got my bike and saw him at the street corner and apologized and he said "That's all right" and we each went on our way.
Two steps forward and one step back.
A little while later I'd finished my meal at a restaurant I've been to infrequently, and the cashier is really nice. I saw her boss
and made a point to tell him how genuinely nice she always was to everybody, and that he had a good employee. The dude
just beamed and called her over to have me repeat what I said. She takes a compliment well, too!
Anyway, that's my confession for the day. I'd really like to be the type of person who does more of the latter than the former.
But I think maybe I need to be more vigilant about patience. Today was the weekly homeless outreach and I caught myself from being
impatient with some of the people.
We started bringing food to the picnic area before our own tables had arrived, and some of the homeless came and sat down where the
food was, though it was clear we weren't serving yet. So we're trying to set up the coffee table and the water supply and people
started sitting there, too, which meant I had to keep moving the coffee and water and creamers, stirrers, and sugar a little further
down so others would have access to them. Why would you sit down right in front of a coffee dispenser other people are trying to
get to? So I kind of took a breath and moved them again.
There wasn't much creamer and people were dumping about a full inch on top of the coffee. I asked people to please go easy on
it so there would be enough, and that seemed to make folks want to hog it all the more.
Anyway, I got through the morning without being mean, except arguably to the guy who asked me for another bottled water when
he already had a full one he hadn't touched. I said "You've got a full one there" and moved on. We really didn't have enough to be
handing out spares until we knew everyone had gotten at least one. Plus, if he drank that off, he could refull it at the cooler.
Also, he was one of the guys who was blatantly in the way of the coffee and water to start with, so I think I wanted to "punish"
him in some way. I wasn't rude exactly -- just said what I said and moved on.
So anyway. Later I was at the library and had picked out some DVDs. It was a branch library, so there were only three checkout
machines, and two of the three had people were were checking out, like, twenty or thirty items each. (For some reason, I see
Vietnamese doing this a lot. They'll get dozens of DVDs and videos at a time.) At the third station was a kid of about 16 who
was methodically checking out maybe six.
All you do is put the item under the scanner, wait for the punching sound to indicate that the item was checked out and
demagnitized, and then do the next one. Each item should take five seconds, ten tops.
This kid would put the DVD on the machine, then slowly edge it to the scan area, going slower as he approached the red laser
shining down. What the heck? These people with thirty might get done faster.
I'm standing there for minutes waiting on these people. (Yeah -- sad that I think "minutes" is such an inconvenience, but
anyone who's ever been irritated by people in line who are unneccesarily pokey know what I'm talking about.)
The kid finally finishes. He carefully presses the pound sign to indicate that he's done. The machine prints his receipt. All he's
gotta do is take his DVDs and receipt and he's out of there.
He unzips his backpack and reaches in. He's got a book he lays carefully on the desk. He takes the DVDs, squares the stack,
then sort of debates which way to put them in his backpack. At least he's standing to one side now; if he just takes his receipt,
the machine is cleared and I can step in and do my thing.
Now he's thinking about putting them in his bag face down, and the back of one of the DVDs has caught his eye. He starts
reading it.
Um. Take the receipt, son.
He's slowly putting the DVDs in his bag now, still reading.
Nope -- let's put them in face up, he decides, so the DVDs come back out and he puts them in.
He picks up the book to place on top of the DVDs, and now he's trying to figure out which way that should go in.
He places the book on top, and now starts to zip the bag, but another zipper catches his eye and he unzips a different pocket.
Now he's working on two different pockets and I couldn't help myself. With a frustrated laugh I stepped up, pulled the reciept
from the machine, said, "You can take your receipt" or something like that, and put my card on the scanner. He muttered
"I'm sorry" and went on messing with the zippers.
I felt like a jerk as soon as I did it and was pretty surprised at myself. I checked out my DVDs and left.
I got my bike and saw him at the street corner and apologized and he said "That's all right" and we each went on our way.
Two steps forward and one step back.
A little while later I'd finished my meal at a restaurant I've been to infrequently, and the cashier is really nice. I saw her boss
and made a point to tell him how genuinely nice she always was to everybody, and that he had a good employee. The dude
just beamed and called her over to have me repeat what I said. She takes a compliment well, too!
Anyway, that's my confession for the day. I'd really like to be the type of person who does more of the latter than the former.