You Are Not Obligated To Give Your Attention Or Time To Anyone
It isn’t rude to refuse to speak to strangers
How often do you find yourself listening to to someone who is talking about topics that make you uncomfortable? How many times have you been backed into a corner by someone you don’t really know so they can talk at you?
Customer service woes
A couple of years ago when I worked at a retail store in a popular shopping location, we had a small group of particularly rowdy guys come in. The four of them were approx. mid-thirties and their rough-cut voices filled the shop. This situation wasn’t special in our town, guys like that were usually our best customers money-wise so a few of us hovered nearby, ready to help should they need it. They only began to stand out when, on their first lap of the shop, they paused near my twenty-year-old co-worker to tell her how beautiful they thought she was. She gave a nervous laugh and stepped away from them, leaving them to it. Another customer asked for my help. Those guys did a few more laps of the store, found some footwear they wanted, paid, gave my colleague one last lingering look up and down, and then left.
This situation was already not acceptable, but it was only after they were gone that I learned that that hadn’t been the whole story. In between…
