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Today's
Meditation:
I've
known people who never made an effort to be pleasant and
positive to others, and who were constantly complaining
about how other people treated them. It was
astonishing to me to hear them complain about how others
acted when I knew how they treated others. Somehow
they just assumed that because a person was a teller or a
cashier or a waiter, that person was bound to treat them
pleasantly, no matter how they treated that person in
return.
Every
person on this planet, though, is living through
experiences much like our own. Every person longs to
be recognized as a unique, caring individual with needs
and wants and and hopes and dreams. Each person
longs to be treated with dignity and respect, and not
walked all over. And if we treat them poorly, we're
going to be treated poorly, too.
Recently
a couple came to the front desk where I work to make
complaints. They didn't come just once, but several
times--it was quite obvious that they were looking for a
big discount or an upgrade to a different room. They
didn't just complain, though-- they were rude and demanding
and disrespectful, implying that a woman I work with had
lied to them (she hadn't) and that we all were
unprofessional and unable to do our jobs. I tried to
treat them well and be reasonable for a very long time,
but that didn't work. Finally, I told them fine,
we'll just refund your money and you can go somewhere else
to stay. And while I wasn't being rude, I wasn't
being respectful any more.
This
stopped them in their tracks. Their complaining
immediately stopped and they turned and left, and we
didn't hear any more from them. I couldn't help but
feel how sad it was that the only way to deal with these
people was to treat them as they were treating us--and
that it worked so well. Their own actions were
demanding that we act in a similar way if we wanted to
free ourselves from the awful treatment we were getting.
Life
is a mirror. It gives back to us what we give to
it. People will treat us as we treat them, and
they'll remember our rudeness--and the next time we show
up where they work or live, we'll be treated based on how
they remember us treating them.
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