Have you ever watched people walking around, driving down the street, or just running, looking incredibly stupid? Ever wondered where they were going or where they came from? I can't help but think about these questions. What's driving these people? Then I get all philosophical, realizing how everyone's lives are intertwined, totally dependant on the path of everyone else. For example: If I would've left just one minute earlier, I would've been further down the road than this guy and would've avoided that accident. If that kid didn't run into that baby and knock her over, she would've been hit in the head with the baseball he failed to catch. If that girl wasn't bending over at the stop light, I wouldn't have rear-ended the guy stopped in front of me, who is now having the official worst day of his life after being fired from work because he slept with who turned out to be the bosses daughter who seduced him in a bar to try to get her boyfriend back after she found another girls panties in his shirt pocket from the previous night's bachelor party... (You get the picture.)

Yes, we all live separate (but equally personal) lives, totally oblivious to the lives of those around us, providing us each with a certain selfishness. We don't even realize we're being self-centered as we think about others not as beings with their own lives, but as parts of our own lives, sent to help us or interfere with us or to just take up extra space. And we treat others thusly, as if they were objects of our lives, there to use as needed, not regarding their feelings and attitudes as we portray our own. And that obliviousness can/does have strong effects on those feelings and attitudes of those to whom we project them.

I see this especially in customer/employee interactions. Of course, employees are there to serve the customer as much as possible. However, that by no means deems the employees as all knowing. Employees have limited knowledge and capabilities for the most part. They are restricted by store policies and information pre-loaded into computers. Everyone must understand this, and not get angry when a projectionist can't rewind a film when you show up late, or when you rent a car and they can't change a reservation you made in New York from Florida or they don't have any minivans available, or when the kid at McDonald's tells you that they aren't able to serve soft drinks due to a problem with the CO₂ system--it's beyond their control. Don't treat them like it's their fault, or that they can fix everything that goes wrong, or even that they know (or should know) everything. By expecting these things, you only set yourself up for disappointment and a disgruntled attitude.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have the employees who fail to understand that the customer isn't as familiar with store policies as the employee. This causes for an "I'm better than you, you dumb shit" attitude (which provides for horrible customer service). How could you expect a customer to be familiar with all of the policies? You don't know about all of Taco Bell's policies or the Gap or Sam Goody's Music. And you were most likely quite unfamiliar with the policies of your own place of business your first month of employment. You learn policies with experience, and expecting a customer to have that experience and treating them as if they were stupid when they fail to meet your absurd expectations is just retarded. As long as customers realize what employees are actually capable of (as opposed to what they "should be" capable of) and employees are kind to customers and service them to (at least) their best ability, we'd get along a lot better!

Another problem with interactions between people (which could also be applied to customer service) is failing to realize how our attitude affects those around us. A customer might approach you as an employee with a shitty attitude because he's pissed about his girlfriend or whatever. It seems like no matter how friendly you are towards him, he projects nothing but negative vibes. Well, first of all, your positive attitude is affecting his. It may not seem like it, but after five or six interactions with positive attitudes, his negative energy will begin to deplete. And as for the grumpy customer thinking the employees are being nice because it's their job, realize they really don't have to be nice. I've worked with plenty of negative employees who know they don't have to go out of their way to make your day a little better. So don't take it for granted when good employees try to put a smile on your face. The employee will definitely feel your negative energy, and it will crush their good mood. The employee knows it's not personal, but it feels like it is. Taking your personal problems out on those around you--even without realizing you're doing it--doesn't make you feel any better and it only makes those around you feel worse.

And if you're an employee producing a negative vibe, it will actually lessen the enjoyment of the customer's experience. No matter how good the movie/food/clothing was, their subconscious will factor in negative customer service when evaluating the enjoyment factor. And I've found that by forcing yourself to portray a positive attitude toward those around you when you're in a bad mood will actually put you in a better mood (with that said, read my article on bad moods). Take into consideration others' moods before releasing your negative energy upon them.

When you go to a concert or a theme park, you're there to have fun, right? How would you feel if some asshole stranger put you down or cut in front of you or threatened to kick your ass if you don't get out of "his" seat? It could very well ruin your day by putting you in a bad mood. I know the feeling. You can't stop thinking about it, whether it scared you or just really pissed you off. Then you realize they've gotten the best of you, and nobody likes that feeling. So why do it to others? In order to ensure an epidemic of happiness, we must stop having fun at the expense of others. What ever happened to common courtesy? It can't even be called common anymore. How about taking the feelings of others into consideration. How about developing some sort of conscience. How about realizing how you're affecting someone else's day--someone who came to the ballpark to watch to game and have a good time. Quit being so narrow-minded as to think your feelings are the only feelings in the universe. Start caring about those of others. Trust me, you can have just as much fun on your own accord.

I think (know) that we'd all get along so much better if only we could begin to realize that those strangers around us--with whom we inadvertently interact--have their own personal lives and problems. We need to not only realize this, but take it into consideration, as well. We can't treat others as walk-on parts in the movies of our own personal lives, because that's exactly what we are to them. Face it; you can't be both the star and the walk-on. But you can look at the big picture and realize that you and those around you are neither. It's harder than it seems, I understand. But it starts with you.