We were out to dinner the other night, driving back through town and apparently not doing it fast enough. The dude passed us on a double-yellow line at a four-way intersection, doing easily 40 in a 25 mph zone. The police were sitting two lights back directing traffic for the Santa parade in town. Naturally.
Maybe it’s because I grew up in the country or maybe it’s because I no longer want to waste my courtesy on stupid people, but that little move ticked me off no end. When stuff like that happens, I go through this pathetic little cycle – indignation, followed by anger, followed by wondering out loud how someone could be so stupid, followed by at least one “How rude!” comment, followed by wondering – again out loud – how someone becomes such a pushy jerk in the first place. I suspect this is what road rage in its early stages resembles.
But now I have a new process. When they do something dangerous/completely stupid, I breathe in and repeat out loud, “Going to my happy place.” I start by thanking God I’m not related to that idiot, then I begin to do what the nuns taught us to do – forgive. Mind you, the nuns never taught us to forget and let go, so I have to invoke a few of my meditation incantations, as well. A Hail Mary for good measure and hey, we’re back to normal. It seems to be working, though it’s been just a few weeks. If you don’t read about me in the crime section of the paper, that’s a bonus.
It’s sort of like that with clients sometimes. Oh sure, the majority of folks are great to work with, but there’s always that one who tests you not just as a writer, but as a human being. There’s the client who lies to get what he wants (had him – he’s just posted bail, in fact), the client who ignores your freelance status and expects 24/7 service, the client who thinks of you in that clerk/typist way, the client who thinks of you in that saucy-vixen way (ewww), the client who wants the equivalent of War and Peace written for just under $200, the client who changes her mind several times but doesn’t want to pay for the revisions, the client who gives you no direction and then is shocked and pointing a finger at you when it doesn’t go her way, and …. you get the idea.
While these people don’t come around often, they do come around. Their opinions of you do not define you or your professional persona – your reaction to their antics does. So what’s the strangest/most annoying/stupidest thing a client has ever done or expected you to do? Where was your happy place? How did you take the high road? DID you take the high road?
I have a similar happy place, taught, natch, at CCD classes many decades ago. It’s hard, but I try to offer up those annoyances (many times, people). Like with bad traffic, these PITA people may be saving us from worse disaster down the road. 🙂
Love your happy place!