Why are people so rude? Is it just me or are there quite a few angry people out there? I was dropping my son off at school today and while waiting in the carpool line I was on the phone with my Mother wishing her a happy birthday. One of the teachers aides, in a very high pitched voice said”You may not talk on the phone in carpool line!” Now I realize that they deal with parents and kids all day long, but all she needed to do was to say in a nice tone, “May I remind you that there is no cell phones in carpool”.
Mind you this is someone who teaches my child, so if she is speaking to me this way how might she be speaking to the children? These lovely people seem to overshadow the kind ones. Do they realize how offensive they are and how selfish it is to put that kind of energy out there? Every time they are rude they think they are being strong and it gives them a temporary feeling of power. What they do is cause a chain reaction, when someone is rude to you it could cause potential retaliation or going on with your day in bad mood then you put that energy out in the world, and then the people you are rude to do the same to someone else and so on and so forth.
Kindness works the same way, that is why there are so many shows, movies, books, etc. on random acts of kindness because the authors are aware of this chain reaction as well. Today, I chose to be sincerely kind to the person who was rude to me. I really felt like telling the b–ch off, but after I cooled off I thought about it and I thought maybe she was having a hard day, maybe she just found out that she is officially in full blown menopase and she will now become dried and shrivelled up (wow that felt good to write that)
No really, I bought her a Starbucks card and handed it to her, appoligzed for being on my phone and told her that she seemed as though she were having a rough day that maybe this would help. She seemed shocked and tried to review once again the rules about cell phones, I just smiled and looked into her eyes with much love and compassion and drove off.
I felt more powerful in that moment than being rude or complaining to school could have ever done. I learned how to feel true power today. I explained to my son what I did as well. He said he would give her a hug the next time he saw her. I really think that she may be nice from now on, or at least for a while, and when she does that she is going to cause a chain reaction of happiness. I feel powerful.
