"A new study finds that knowing when to vent (and when not to) may make you less stressed."
Okay makes some sense so far.
"Your guide: Someone cuts in front of you at the grocery checkout. ZIP IT"
Snort of disbelief. Let's read the rest of it before outrage takes over.
"In general, blowing up at a stranger is a bad idea, says Pam Brill, author of The Winner's Way (McGraw Hill). Not only do you not know how she will react, but you also don't know the reason she is rushing. (Wouldn't you feel bad if it's because she has a sick baby at home?) Instead of griping, grab a glossy and chill"
My take on this: Firstly, it is not correct to cut someone elses line. Period. Secondly, it is downright rude (somewhat akin to spitting into someone's eye) to cut a queue without asking first. Maybe you do have a sick baby (note: sick babies should be taken to a clinic, sick babies should not be left at home alone and sick babies left at home are not dying babies who can't wait 2 minutes more. Also sick babies do not deserve a rude and self-centred parent), or you have to catch a flight, or you have to buy that bottle of spagetti sauce or you'd drop dead. Whatever the reason, I'm sure you can spare the 2 seconds to tell the person you're cutting in front "I'm sorry. I'm in a rush and I'm about to pee in my pants. Is it okay if I go ahead of you?"
By keeping quiet, we're condoning what they do, sending signals to queue cutters that it's okay to do so. I mean, they have to wait in line for a shorter time and no downside at all to it ("not like it'll appear in my testimonial/report card/transcript"), so why the hell not? Some people might not even be aware that they have done something wrong. So by telling them off, you might be doing a service to others who are suffering in silence. I'm not saying make a scene, scream at the guy and give him hell in general. I usually prefer the more unoffensive way which starts with an "Excuse me, but
Some of these people can be pretty thick-skinned and I find them usually self-centred. If I made them unhappier by forcing them to lie or find a lame excuse for what they did, I hope that I have discouraged them from doing what they did a second time. Like the dumb CS100M consultant who ALWAYS sits at the PC with the scanner in the computer lab on Fridays. Usually, there are notes telling people to NOT use those PCs unless they need the scanner or the lab is full. In two consecutive Fridays, I found him sitting there when I needed it. So I asked him nicely, "Do you need to use the scanner? Coz I need to scan some pics." He had to gall to ask me, "Oh do you have many to scan?" and then vacated his seat. However, he left all his personal items at the PC, expecting me to scan my pics and then scram. So after a few irritated minutes of scanning, I stood up and told him that he should not have used this PC in the first place. He defended himself by saying when he came the lab was full. Well, it isn't now!!!! And it's somewhat dubious that he always comes into the crowded lab and voila! there's one space left and it's the one with the scanner. Well, seeing him all apologetic and awkward pretty much made my day.
Yesterday, we had a team meeting for the MEng project. Some measly little OR580 people were in our meeting room, so we opened the door and told them "Sorry, we've booked this room". One of the guys got up and said "oh okay. Is there any other empty room around?" He walked past me out of the door and said "Next door's empty, could you guys use that instead?" We relented given that there were three of us and we decided to be nice. But that made me pretty ticked off so I retorted "Next time, make sure you book the room". I mean the gall!!! If you are using someone elses resources and caught red-handed, you should jolly well apologize and scoot off ASAP. Not ask the owners to find an alternative. So what if you had 2 laptops plugged to the wall. Are 2 laptops too much for 4 guys to carry to the room 3 steps away? Learn some courtesy, boy! Next time I wouldn't let you off so easily.
At any rate, I've felt pretty good about voicing my thoughts instead of keeping them inside and building this volcano of anger towards humanity. So onward with the verbal abuse of people who treads on my toes.
Idiot Count: Idiots told off so far -- 3 (imagine a Mac's "Hamburgers made" boards they used to have outside their chain)
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