I’m a jump to conclusion-er. It’s a fault. A big one.
Some idiot is speeding and cuts me off. The nerve! Jackass! Can you believe they gave this moron a license??
What if that person just got a phone call telling them their child was hurt? Or their elderly father fell? Would I react in the same way?
She is SUCH a bitch today, why is she in customer service?
Maybe her pet died. Or it has been an incredibly awful week. Would I be kinder? Gentler?
Sometimes words, just words tear through you with such force when all you need, all you want is just a bit of kindness.
Don’t get me wrong here, sometimes an idiot is just an idiot.
But maybe, just maybe taking a moment to think before I come to that conclusion will save me from making someone’s awful day even worse. I’ve been there, both on the giving and the receiving end, and either way it feels like shit.
I am just the opposite! I give people the benefit of the doubt and often get snowed...
ReplyDeleteEither way, you feel bad!
I jump to the conclusion all the time. I've been trying to be nicer to the speeders and cut-off-ers after my husband sped to see his literally dying father at about 95 mph and cut off countless other drivers.
ReplyDeleteBut I still get pissed at people who take my space in the parking lot, park in the handicapped when they clearly aren't, take FOREVER in the checkout lane and tell me my basement is messy.
Wise words. Wise words. But a lot of times, they're idiots. I mean, wait, yeah they must be having a rough day. :)
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing and then feel horrible if I do find out the real reason they weren't acting the way I wanted them to.
ReplyDeleteI really should take a step back and not to jump to those conclusions. They say it's bad exercise.
Guilty. I really do better driving (aka: much less stress and anger) when I get into that frame of mind and remind myself that I have no idea what the other person's journey is all about...
ReplyDeleteI am so guilty of this as well. I was just reading the other day about someone saying to a rude sales person, "I'm sorry you are having such a tough day" and what a change it caused in her behavior. I need to be more like that.
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