Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bad, bad business, behavior, good, humor, ironic, irony, karma, predatory business, revenge, rude
I believe in karma, the idea that what you put out into the universe is what you will also get back. I have to believe it because I’ve seen karma come back to bite people in the butt and I’ve also seen karma come back to bite people that really may not have earned it. Of course there’s also good karma. One of my favorite sayings is “The best revenge is success (or living well)”. That’s a form of karma, right??
I think that one of my best karma stories has to do with a friend of mine (who shall remain nameless to protect her identity). Several years ago this friend and I were pretty close. It’s unfortunate but our friendship took a downturn during my divorce. The funny thing is that you really find out who your real friends are when you go through hard times. She acted as though divorce was contagious, and now that I think about it, it was! There were quite a few people I knew that followed in my footsteps. Now I’m getting off track………….
Anyway, this friend had a great sense of humor. She also had an uncanny knack for impersonating people and was especially good at impersonating a deaf person. Trust me, I knew that it was not politically correct but she was amazingly good at it and every once in a while when she poured the impersonation on I would roll on the floor with laughter. I feel a little bad telling this story because it is horribly politically incorrect but hind site is 20/20 and I can tell you now that I would not find any humor in it today. You guessed it, karma came through. My friend was diagnosed with a tumor on the eustacian tube in one of her ears. Fortunately it was benign and through surgery the tumor was removed. Here’s the downside, it was considered brain surgery and the recovery was very lengthy but worse, she lost all hearing in that ear. To the best of my knowledge she hasn’t performed that impersonation since then and even if she did, it wouldn’t be funny.
I also can’t help but think that in some way the crappy economy is due to karma. So much greed and so many bad spending habits by so many people (forget the corporations, that goes without saying) has led to financial ruin. I’ve seen a lot of it right within my own industry. When real estate was hot there were a lot of Realtors and mortgage brokers that took advantage of buyers and sellers. Some of you may be happy to hear that I know quite a few of these people who are now loosing their own houses and their businesses…..and for the most part, they deserve it. Now that’s irony, brokers loosing their own home after predatory and unethical practices screwed over their clients that were buying a home….it’s almost funny!
Here’s one more example. CAM told me this story about how she had gone to the gas station to fill up her car. There were no other cars in front of hers and instead of pulling forward she stopped at the first pump. There was a guy who pulled in right behind her and couldn’t get around her car to get to the first pump (which was the pump she should have gone to in the first place). Before she even began to pump her gas he came over to her and asked if she would please move her car forward, she refused. The gas attendant came over and the two men explained that it would nice if she could pull forward so that this gentleman could fill up too. She still refused and proceeded to fill up her car. Both men walked away in a huff. She ended her story by saying to me “Can you believe how rude they were?”, I was stunned. This woman professes to be a “born-again” Christian. Did she not learn that you should do unto others as you would have them do unto you? She must have missed church that Sunday. CAM got a two-fer, she chose to piss off two people for the price of one and how did karma respond to this? After a number of other jaw dropping incidents I have chosen not to have her in my life and subsequently she doesn’t get to see her grandchildren.
So the moral of the story is just that: put out good, get good. Put out bad, get bad. It’s pretty simple but it bears repeating and it’s a good life lesson for the new year. May karma be kind to you and your family in 2009!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: actions, awareness, cell phones, effects, English, friends, parenting, rude, rude behavior, treatment
Almost every weekday morning I meet up with my BFF D for about a 45 minute brisk walk through our neighborhood and around the local park, and sometimes MFH joins us. Without fail we run into several other people while we’re out, many of them the same people every day. We all have our routine. Every once in a while we’ll walk by someone we haven’t seen before and at least once a week we’ll walk by someone who doesn’t return our cheery “Good Morning!” This morning that got me thinking about how rude people can be. AND, whether we all know it or not how we respond and how others respond to us can affect us throughout the day!
Here is my top ten list of rude behavior:
10: Chain e-mails that are sent by supposed friends that tell you to either forward it on to ten other friends or “you will have a horrible day”! What the heck is that?? Nice “friend”!
9: People who drive 10 miles under the speed limit with only a single lane of traffic and a double yellow line. It doesn’t cost anything to pay attention!
8: People who allow their dogs to poop on the sidewalk and don’t pick it up…..even when there is a free baggy, next to the garbage can, within 10 feet of where the offending poop happened!
7: People who pretend to not speak English. It’s one thing to really not know the language but if you’re not going to try, at least learn how to apologize for it, in English!!
6: Not signaling when going for a right turn. MFH is famous for that. He’s been flipped off for not signaling more times than I can count….and he deserves it every time!
5: It’s rude when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store and a new checker opens their lane and then takes the LAST person in line….the one behind you. “I can help whoever is next” does not mean the person behind me! OH, and then I’m the rude one for pointing this out to the checker with a pleasant “I believe I was next”…..no, that’s just irritating.
4: This one is touchy: people who talk on their phone in public places AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS. The last part is the most important. I think that people should be able to converse on their cell phones but they need to be mindful of their surroundings.
3: Parents who do not control their children…….need I say more? Public displays of poor parenting should not be tolerated.
2: People who are chronically late. Oh wait, that’s me….but I’m admitting that I have a problem and I’m working on it. I’ve trained my friends and family to expect me 30 minutes late to any function, so it’s working!
1: AND the number one most rude thing that people do? When you are a pedestrian and a car will not stop to allow you (by law) to cross the road at a cross walk….and then when you pleasantly remind them that you have the right of way by either flipping them off or by yelling “Hey, thanks asshole!” they actually give you a dirty look! That’s just rude, and wrong!
A wise friend once made the suggestion that I keep a journal of all of the people that I came into contact with and how I responded to them throughout the day. When I say “came into contact with” I mean anyone from the gas station attendant to co-workers….EVERYONE. She said that after she had done this she became acutely aware of how her responses and actions toward other people could have affected them negatively and thus she changed her attitude to become a person that was more mindful of how she treated others. That’s a nice thought, in theory.
Me on the other hand? I’ll keep using my car’s horn, my hand gestures and my all around pleasant use of the English language to counteract the effects of rudeness!
