Minimizing Stress

Lately I haven't been having the best of times, so I have been trying to find simple little ways to keep myself from stressing out over the small things in life. So far I've tried meditation, funny websites, music, watching tv, and drawing to keep myself from blowing up at the nearest bystander.

But the most simple thing I have found that helps as a sort of preemptive strike against the stress demons at bay is what you are seeing to the left.

Simply by turning my phone all the way down I have effectively removed myself from whatever drama can creep up into my life from friends or family who know my phone number.

It was so simple!

I'm not sure as to why I hadn't done this before. I am constantly bombarded with passive aggressive texts from people on a daily basis. But this phone, this $50 hunk of crap, is mine. Why should I allow myself to be exposed to that sort of negativity? So, All Sounds Off it is.

On the topic of meditation: I am not good at this yet. I still have a tough time fighting for my little inner voice to just be silent for a few minutes. It's as though every time I sit down and close my eyes, I get through the first few moments of silence...and suddenly am interrupted by an echoing voice in my head babbling about something interesting that happened a few months ago. And from that thought comes another, and another, and another, until I find it completely impossible to focus--or, not--on anything at all. I realize that it takes a lot of dedication and practice, but I think it may be a while before I can even go 30 seconds without my inner voice bubbling up like an excited child at a parade.

Once I do manage to do this, though, I feel like I will be much more prepared to deal with the negative energies that come from others. Even if it just gives me time alone, I will see it as a huge victory, and may have to reward myself for my patience.

-Manda-

.. ／l、
ﾞ（ﾟ､ ｡ ７
　l、ﾞ ~ヽ
　じしf_, )?

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Public Rudeness

Rude

[rood]

-Adjective, rud -er, rud -est

1. Discourteous or impolite, esp. in a deliberate way: a rude reply.

We have all come across a rude person before in our life. Whether it was a friend not sharing as a child or a coworker treating you like crap, we've all been there. But how we deal with it is what makes the situation either calm down or escalate to more problematic levels of tension.

That being said, those who work in retail are very limited as to what they can do in situations where the customer is being rude. They could choose to defend themselves, or they could choose to simply let it roll off their shoulders. The majority of the time, they are encouraged to smile and nod, letting the customer get away with whatever rude behavior that they have been displaying. There's really no other way around it unless you're in a position of some sort of power in the store.

I've got a few stories, just as I'm sure you or your friends who work or ever have worked in the service or retail industry may have. As you may or may not know, I used to work at a fairly well-known pizza chain when I was in high school. I often worked nights, as I was at school during the day, and this meant I'd get people coming in for their dinner.

One particularly quiet night, I was working the front when I saw a woman approaching the store with cell phone in hand. She opened the door, walked up to the desk and stood there. I walked over to the counter, as that was what I was supposed to do, and asked her what I could get for her. She swiftly replied by snapping her hand up in between her and myself, extending a single finger to show that I was meant to wait for her.

Yes, I was irritated, but really there was nothing I could do but wait for the woman to finish up her phone call. Afterwards, she ordered her pizza and left. But I could not understand why someone would walk all the way up to the place where you order your food, only to hush the cashier and make them wait when there's clearly more important things (such as cleaning up the store) that could be being done.

While it was not the worst thing to ever happen, it was still rude of her--in my opinion--to stand at the counter while chatting on the phone. It just puts the cashier in an awkward position. The thoughts that run through our heads are mostly, "What the heck do I say?" "How do I deal with this person?" "Does he/she honestly expect my best if I can't even get theirs?"

So please, if you're going to go up to a service counter, hang up the phone. Not only does it make the cashier feel weird for not being able to serve you the best way possible, but it makes you look like a complete bitch.

Just some food for thought.

-Manda-