Shut Up! and Other Things Better Left Unsaid
- By Tracy Ames
- Published January 22, 2012
Tracy Ames
Mrs. Ames is an international bestselling author of interracial erotic fiction and a former columnist for several newsletters and magazines.
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Tracy currently split time between CT & New York City with her husband, children and a host of pets.
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While shopping and gabbing with Lydia, the dreadful incident where Greg literally snapped on a friendly passerby came up in conversation. For all his Buddha hugging, Midwest charm he is still a WASP with a short fuse.
Some may remember this tale. For those who don’t, here goes:
We visited Tennessee a few years ago. It normally takes him three days to adjust to the wellspring that is Southern hospitality. This trip, however, was different in that everyone we encountered seemed to spray warm fuzzies from a hose pointed directly at him.
Waiters, clerks, random passersby, and the effin’ car wash guy were all smiles and ‘Good morning’, ‘How are you?’, ‘Nice day’, ‘Have a good one, buddy!’
Sadly, the guy who took the force of his rage, a random hiker descending the mountain as we were heading up, had no clue he’d tripped a landmine. One final “Have a good day, buddy!” was all it took.
*Cue psycho freak out*
“Shut the fuck up! You don’t care if I have a good day!! You don’t even know me! I’m minding my business, fucking going up the trail. Why are you talking to me?!?!”
I saw it coming so I stood back and watched the mayhem unfold. A few seconds into the rant, the hiker scampered on his merry way somewhat worse for having crossed our path.
Many of you are thinking “Wow, what a jerk.” and yeah, you may have a point. I think it’s about hitting your limit. We all have them, and they have all been tripped at least once in our lives by innocent victims. To say you have NEVER snapped (though not as theatrical or public as 50) is dishonest.
I can suffer slow checkout clerks if I’m not in a hurry. If I am in a rush, I’ll tell the clerk just that. Problem solved, right? Well, not this occasion. Here goes:
Lydia is talking, the clerk is taking her sweet time, and I’m beginning to boil. I politely tell the clerk that my car is waiting and offer to bag my goods. Alas, she moves at a snail's pace. Finally, I see my driver standing against the car having a smoke. That’s it!
“Give me the bags. Hurry your ass up!” I shout.
Lydia, bless her, says, “Oooh! I’m gonna let you go.” *laughs*
What happened to the calm voice of reason?, you ask. Well, I've bleedin' had it. I've turned into my husband!! Your girl is stressed!
Some may remember this tale. For those who don’t, here goes:
We visited Tennessee a few years ago. It normally takes him three days to adjust to the wellspring that is Southern hospitality. This trip, however, was different in that everyone we encountered seemed to spray warm fuzzies from a hose pointed directly at him.
Waiters, clerks, random passersby, and the effin’ car wash guy were all smiles and ‘Good morning’, ‘How are you?’, ‘Nice day’, ‘Have a good one, buddy!’
Sadly, the guy who took the force of his rage, a random hiker descending the mountain as we were heading up, had no clue he’d tripped a landmine. One final “Have a good day, buddy!” was all it took.
*Cue psycho freak out*
“Shut the fuck up! You don’t care if I have a good day!! You don’t even know me! I’m minding my business, fucking going up the trail. Why are you talking to me?!?!”
I saw it coming so I stood back and watched the mayhem unfold. A few seconds into the rant, the hiker scampered on his merry way somewhat worse for having crossed our path.
Many of you are thinking “Wow, what a jerk.” and yeah, you may have a point. I think it’s about hitting your limit. We all have them, and they have all been tripped at least once in our lives by innocent victims. To say you have NEVER snapped (though not as theatrical or public as 50) is dishonest.
I can suffer slow checkout clerks if I’m not in a hurry. If I am in a rush, I’ll tell the clerk just that. Problem solved, right? Well, not this occasion. Here goes:
Lydia is talking, the clerk is taking her sweet time, and I’m beginning to boil. I politely tell the clerk that my car is waiting and offer to bag my goods. Alas, she moves at a snail's pace. Finally, I see my driver standing against the car having a smoke. That’s it!
“Give me the bags. Hurry your ass up!” I shout.
Lydia, bless her, says, “Oooh! I’m gonna let you go.” *laughs*
What happened to the calm voice of reason?, you ask. Well, I've bleedin' had it. I've turned into my husband!! Your girl is stressed!
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7 Responses to "Shut Up! and Other Things Better Left Unsaid" 
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said this on 22 Jan 2012 9:28:02 AM CDT
Two Gregs!!!!!!! well, that's it! the world WILL end December 2012
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said this on 22 Jan 2012 10:25:41 AM CDT
Girl! I don't know what's become of me lately. The world isn't ready for two. LOL! I'm not as bad as him - and he's only lost it that bad once or twice. Thank goodness!
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said this on 22 Jan 2012 3:30:42 PM CDT
On behalf of those waiters, clerks, and car wash people, understand that part of the issue is that they are *required* to be friendly. I work customer service and as much as I'd rather be task-oriented and just doing what a customer requests, I have to also make friendly conversation and say that I hope the customer has a wonderful day... regardless of how that customer acted.
That said, if you go off on anybody in any kind of customer service for the grave sin of asking about your morning or wishing you a nice day, you take your life in your hands. Eventually, someone like your husband is going to find his last straw and become someone else's last straw and everybody on the news is going to be shocked, shocked I say, at the grizzly scene. I, on the other hand, will wonder why it doesn't happen more often. |
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said this on 22 Jan 2012 5:21:35 PM CDT
It's not so much him going off on anyone for anything - it's more or less about hitting his limit. He's normally very nice. 50 snapping on the friendly hiker was quite random which is why it's so damn funny to those who know him. Poor guy. He was just being nice.
I worked in sales while in college and, yeah you're expected to be nice, BUT when you're asked or better yet you sense the person is in a hurry you might wanna cut the chatter and speed the hell up. It doesn't take a whiz to figure out the person you're dealing with isn't open to banter. My cashier had it coming. I asked her if she needed help. |
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said this on 23 Jan 2012 8:43:17 PM CDT
LOL! I'll be making a mental note to never tell 50Mil to have a good day. I can only imanige the look on the poor hikers face. You do make a good point. When someone clearly makes it known to you that they are in a hurry. You try to speed things up not chat like you have all the time in the world. We all have off days. I can admit I have been gulity of snapping.
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said this on 23 Jan 2012 11:21:44 PM CDT
I agree. When I'm in the mood to talk while waiting as the cashier rings up my purchases it's not a problem, but if you noticed that every question or attempt at talking to me is met with a monotoned answer -- that's your clue to please hurry up because I have somewhere else to be.
You can work fast and be friendly at the same time. When I use to work in retail that's exactly how I treated people. I got them out of there asap while wearing a smile on my face. So trust me I totally understand about people reaching their limits. |
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said this on 27 Jan 2012 4:29:04 AM CDT
Take a breather, Tracy. Surely even Budha got mad at some point in his life too?!.
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