Attitude is Everything

Yesterday morning I was standing in line at the bank, minding my own business, when I witnessed one of the most curious phenomena out there. I’ve witnessed this same phenomenon many times before, mind you, even at that very bank once before. 

They had just opened not 15 minutes before. There were three people in line in front of me and two behind me. Two tellers were set up and taking customers while, as we later found out, two more were in the vault getting the things they needed to get set for the day. And then it happened. A huff and a snort and an almost audible rolling of eyeballs behind me. Then came the shifting in place. It finally broke out into, “What is taking you people so long! I can’t believe this!” I raised my eyebrow. I tried not to smirk. But I couldn’t help it.

Impatience had struck again.

Okay, now I could understand getting upset if the tellers were goofing off, picking their noses, chatting with each other and ignoring the customers. But they weren’t. They were working. Hard. And the other two were getting set up for the day.  Everyone was doing the best they could. The manager even came over to see if he could expedite the process and he apologized to those of us waiting. The staff at the bank was exemplary. So why was this woman complaining?

I ask myself that question all the time. Especially in traffic. Someone always thinks it’s a race and that there’s a prize if they get to the next light first. I always want to say to those people “Are you really in such a hurry to get to work?” Maybe it’s the spirit of competition in some people. Maybe, as in the case of Impatient Lady at the bank, it’s a matter of wanting people to respect you. Or maybe it’s just plain old selfishness. What makes me shake my head at these people is that ultimately they are hurting no one but themselves.

Here’s the deal. I used to work in customer service. I spent all day on the phone with people who had problems. Sometimes these people would get belligerent. I was reduced to tears twice in my time at that job and was spoken to so disrespectfully that I hung up on the caller (which we WERE allowed to do, I might add) five times. Guess what? The more rotten you are to a customer service rep the less willing they are to help you and the longer it will take to get some sort of resolution. But if you’re nice to a customer service rep, and I say this from experience on both ends, they will bend over backwards to have things work out in your favor.

But it goes beyond that. Impatient Lady at the bank was clearly miserable. Why was she miserable? Because she chose to be angry at the situation and the people that she saw as responsible for it. I’ve seen this thousands of times.

Me? I was distracted by looking at the ad materials placed around the bank and thinking “Well that was a clever marketing idea!” or “Um, no, that totally fell short of what I think they were going for” and looking out the window thinking “It’s such a beautiful morning! Look at how blue the sky is and it’s been so gray all week!” I knew that there was nothing those tellers could do to make the line move any faster. They were already working as hard as they could.

I don’t understand why people choose to be miserable and angry and upset about things. Ninety-nine percent of the people we encounter on a daily basis are not thinking of ways to make our lives miserable. The only person who wastes any time thinking of ways to ruin our day is us. In fact, at the bank the employees and all of the decorations and signs were there specifically to help and entertain customers. 

Attitude is everything. We choose the kind of world we want to live in on a moment to moment basis. There is no law that says that you have to get upset if you are not served right away in every situation. Negativity never brings positive results. 

So here’s my challenge for you: Next time you find yourself ready to put a negative spin on an inherently neutral situation, whether it’s backed-up rush-hour traffic or a longer than expected line at the bank or store or a string of commercials interrupting your favorite tv show, choose to put a positive spin on it, or at least to see it as fact rather than emotion. Trust me, the world is not out to get you.