Something really pisses you off? Rant.
Somebody really irritates you? Rant.
You want to change the status quo but feel too small to do anything?
Rant that shit out…but probably not on some street corner with a bull-horn because you need permits & stuff & if you don't have those you end up in jail recovering from pepper spray exposure & then you leave with a court date, imminent criminal record, and a feeling of violation.
Today's rant is about assholes. Yeah, those guys. We all, at some point, have had dealings with an asshole OR have been that asshole to someone else.
Assholes make me feel really ragey…
You try to avoid them, try being the operative word, but we all know its inevitable. Owning my own business has put me in the line of fire many times.
Because customers are never assholes and are always right.
Whatever…I knew when I started my business that I would have to deal with people. I knew it wasn't always going to be awesome and enjoyable. I knew it wasn't going to be sugary goodness & rainbows & puppies & the melodic sound of Tom Hiddleston's laugh. I did not have unrealistic expectations. I have worked with the public before.
That is probably why I hate people so much.
Bartending will do that to a person.
I'm not the only small business/self-employer who has had bouts with asshole customers. Quite a few of my friends have home-based businesses and we all swap stories. I had a recent order that really pissed me off. Still a bit sore about it actually. Anyway…I was reminded of a conversation I had with one of my friends concerning this issue. And, seeing as I don't delete my Facebook messages regularly, I was able to screen-shot it. I have included this because it is an actual, true account of problems so many of us self-employed face on a daily basis. It serves as a visual truth…asshole customers effect us more negatively than they might know/care.
*I have poorly edited the pictures. Sorry not sorry.*
What makes these types of interactions worse, is some form of relationship. Friendships, fledgling or life-long, family members, work colleagues all complicate matters. I'm not saying that us small business owners need to handled with kid gloves…I'm saying that you cannot take advantage of us for our small-scale operations or exploit our personal relationships.
AND
Most of us start these businesses out of passion. My friend loves photography. Not just capturing sunsets and shit but capturing lives and immortalizing those moments through plays of light and scenic support. Memories are fallible. Photographs allow us to revisit, reminisce.
I love food. I bake because there is nothing more beautiful than moments spent in good company sharing good food and drink. I bake because it brings me happiness knowing that my cake, or whatever, will bring people together, it will be shared, it will be apart of someone's "moment." A moment that might stay with them for years. So in some small way, I might be bettering a person's night/day/week.
Another friend sells customized jewelry. She loves fashion and has awesome style. She facilitates beautiful jewelry which, when worn, has the power to be uplifting. This jewelry can be conversation starters. It can be a catalyst to brokering new friendships or other types of relationships. Plus, beautiful jewelry just makes you feel pretty and boosting self-esteem is never not a good thing.
So look at it from this angle…next time you patronize a small business or direct sales consultant or whatever and you try to overstep because you think you have the right due to our small stature, "hey, its not like this is Target or somewhere," just know that doing that…exploiting us...is like taking a big, giant asshole shit all over our art/passion/hard work/time spent away from kids/time spent not sleeping.
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