#125 - Why Bother?

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I got a temporary contract a little while back and when I came in on the first day I said good morning to the woman seated next to me. She glared at me as though I'd complimented her moustache and grunted "morning" under her breath. The next day she came in and again I said "good morning" and again she replied "morning", this time without even looking at me. On the third day she walked in and actually positioned herself with her back to me and immediately started a conversation with someone else almost as though she was trying to escape my friendliness. No dice - she still got a "good morning" when she sat down five minutes later and I got another grunt. 

At first I was blown away by her rudeness but then I reminded myself that we're all doing what we know to do. I don't know her, I don't know her story. What I do know is that I'm not going to waste energy holding on to some negative feeling towards someone I don't even know and I'm not going to become less than who I am. I continued saying good morning to her every day and good night when I was leaving even though sometimes she ignored me. 

During the second week she walked in one morning and said "Good morning" to me, one of the other women in the office nearly fell off her chair - visibly shocked, she caught my eye and raised her eyebrows. 

I don't suppose the angry woman's character is going to change any time soon. She was still breathtakingly rude to me on numerous occasions but I began to find her behaviour, which was clearly a mask, quite amusing after a while. 

"Hard outside, soft inside.
Soft outside, hard inside."
Chinese Proverb

There was a time when if I held a door open for someone and they didn't say thank you it was a problem. There was also a time where if anyone was rude to me I would have a knee-jerk reaction to it. 

Now I understand that this is usually not personal. I'm not that important :)

The reason I still hold open doors and I still try to be polite is probably the same reason I write this blog. 

Why bother?

Because it's the right thing to do.