Over the last few months I’ve noticed how quick people are to fly off of the handle at even the smallest of perceived slights. I’ve witnessed it, not only at my stores, but at other stores and restaurants. I get that there’s a lot going on in the world, and people are stressed, but there’s no need to take it out on literally everyone around you. In the vast majority of cases that I’ve personally witnessed, people are just trying to do their job.
Everyone is stressed, yes, but that’s no excuse to be a shit person. You have no idea the effect that you’re having on someone’s mental health when you stand there and scream at them, or call them names, or tear them down over something that they have no control over (namely their company’s policies that they’re being told to enforce).
Just… be kind.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware that some of these people are just shit people and are looking for an excuse to be shit people. They’re going to be shit people, COVID or not. They get off on treating other people poorly. And I honestly believe that these are the worst kinds of people.
Across the globe people are struggling with mental health issues. Depression and anxiety are running rampant. I was reading an article recently about how agoraphobia is on the rise. This isn’t just a global health crisis, it’s a global mental health crisis as well, and I don’t know that there are enough resources in place to deal with it. Yes, in many cases once people start transitioning back to some degree of normalcy a lot of it will ease, but how long is that going to be? Everyone I know that works office jobs is still working from home. People aren’t going out nearly as much as they were. Kids’ sports are being cancelled, although some starting to cautiously go forward.
So at the end of the day, please be kind to others.
