Yesterday I went for routine bloodwork and when I got home I had to call customer service for a return.
I am sharing this because when I thanked each woman, the one doing the blood work and the customer service rep, for their help they both were surprised to hear “thank you” and ended up sharing stories with me about how patients/customers end up yelling at them.
The woman doing the bloodwork shared she was ready to find a new career because of it. The customer service rep shared that at her old job she use to go home and cry after work because of how often she was yelled at by customers. Now that she works at home she can now just hang up and just cry.
Isn’t this hard to hear?
Two human beings doing their jobs getting yelled at by their patients/customers for things that are not in their control to change/fix.
For example, this was my third time back to get bloodwork because every time I went in there was paperwork missing. Is that annoying? Yes. Does that give me the right to yell at this person? No.
This customer service rep was awesome yet I do get the cold calls from people, not robots, who keep talking even after I’ve said, “thank you but we are all set.” Is it frustrating they ignore me? Yes. Does that give me permission to treat them poorly? No.
These people are simply doing their jobs.
I know we can walk into appointments or call customer service frustrated or annoyed. Yet why not treat those helping us with dignity and respect even if we are frustrating or annoyed?
It’s okay to be frustrated, annoyed or angry yet what we do with those emotions matters. We can pass along those emotions and tear others down along our path, or harness them and choose to use them to be productive with our words and actions.
I invite you to join me today to...
pause. breathe. pray.
May we ask God to help us harness our emotions and not use them to tear others down along our path. Instead may we choose to give thanks to people along our path and see them as a human being who is besides us in life. May we treat others the way we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes. You never know how choosing this path will positively impact another’s heart and lift their spirit, instead of breaking it.
With love and hope,
Shawn
Treat others the way you want to be treated - Matthew 7:12