As I am not a football watcher much less watcher of any sport other than channel surfing, I took the opportunity to spend my Sunday doing laundry which meant a slight cardio workout due to going up and down the stairs to load/unload and indulge in some OCD behavior by “checking” to make sure the washer water was actually going in the washer and not on my basement floor. Past experience of a blown water tube/pipe and water gushing into my basement for 45 minutes has me just a little post-traumatic and I feel compelled to “oversee” things in the basement as a result.
And overdosing on six straight hours of “The Closer”! Now that’s a good show. I love how quirky and eccentric the character of Brenda Johnson is and the fact that a hot FBI guy wants to spend time in her difficult company! The last show I watched had a comment that Brenda made that seemed to strike home. Brenda was explaining how her social skills go by the wayside when she is concentrating on being an excellent interrogator.
Made me think about myself. I’m a fun person to be around my friends tell me, but I’ve noticed my social skills are a bit lacking at times. Mostly when I’ve been by myself a lot and then I’m suddenly thrown into a social situation. I tend to make inappropriate comments, ask questions unrelated to the topic at hand, interrupt with my take coz if I don’t I will forget what I want to say by the time the other person has got around to making their point which I got 5 minutes ago, cracking jokes that are too complex or too 6yroldish or just on the cusp of being of being hurtful without meaning to be, engaging in body language that tells the other person I don’t want to finish listening to them, subtle multi-tasking, obvious multi-tasking, and get on a soapbox. Usually I try very hard to keep my mouth shut, but the “center of attention Leo” in me can get the best of me at the worst of times.
That’s not to say I’m rude and impolite out on my errands. If anything, I’m more socially appropriate with complete strangers in the grocery store than I am with my friends. I wait my turn, help the clueless little old lady out with reaching a product, answer questions, ask questions after saying “excuse me”, and just generally spreading random sunshine.
But I have the not-too-admirable trait of not turning the other cheek or “letting go”. I tend to give back what I get and in an even lower way. That means if someone is rude to me, they get it back in spades and sharper. If someone brings an annoying kid to the movies, they’re gonna know how I feel. If they cut in line, I will be the one to recommend that they go to the back of the line as it would be best for them to do so. If they are being unnecessarily high maintenance for a low maintenance issue, I do sigh out loud, tap the counter, and stare at them unblinkingly. I’m not proud of this and it’s something I’m working on. Although I don’t remember to count to ten very often.
This is why I am not working in public relations or retail. The customer is NOT always right and I can’t help but let them know this. I let a customer know she’d crossed the line after the 10th time she’d thrown the jeans out of the dressing room and slammed the door afterwards. Needless to say, I spent the afternoon in the stock room. I also did a stint at the public library behind the front desk. My mother got to witness my lack of tolerance for patrons who racked up fines because they couldn’t be bothered to bring books back and viewed it as some sort of mass accumulation game. Think of all the books other patrons couldn’t access because of them. Hhhmmph!
I do much better in a job where I am a teacherly person and can be creative. Kind of like my current job.
Of course, any social skills improvement I make can be tossed out the window in a blink of an eye during PMS.
Which is this week.
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