Lost In Translation

I worked in the retail industry for many years, and during that time I saw a range of human emotions. It was not unusual for a customer to express disappointment if their order was processed incorrectly. Seldom did a customer raise their voice to express annoyance. However, I do remember one such incident involving a rather loud exchange of words.

It was a quiet afternoon and given the volume of business the company generated, this was a nice reprieve. The calm was soon to be disrupted by a gentleman entering the store asking to see the manager. Judging by the look on his face, one could see he was upset. My manager intervened and made every effort to appease him. For all I know, the customer most likely had a valid reason to be annoyed. But it was the manner in which he conveyed his feelings that left a lasting impression.

Despite being a grown man, this gentleman proceeded to throw a tantrum in front of all the customers and salespeople. Now, had his Mama been present, she would have pulled him aside to say, “Now Junior, that’s enough.” But his behavior kept escalating. Nothing, it seemed, could satisfy him. Like I said, he may very well have had a valid point, but it was lost in translation due to his unruly behavior.

I understand frustration, but perhaps his case could have been won had he conveyed his feelings in a more respectful manner. We have all experienced problems at some point or another with various work industries. In fact, I had an upsetting experience one time where, after the fact, I was reminded of my P’s and Q’s by none other than my respectfully quiet brother-in-law.

How is it that those who are the most quiet often garner our undivided attention when speaking and are able to express their opinions in the most palatable manner? In many instances, the gift of brevity is a swift and mighty sword.

When I look back on this incident, I am rather embarrassed by how I handled my grievance. Here’s what happened. But first, please buckle your seat belt.

My husband and I rented a moving truck from a national chain. When we got inside the truck, I noticed the cookie crumbs on the passenger seat and floor. There was a sticky door handle, plus a dirty windshield. No one had bothered to clean the truck between the next arriving renter. There was also the previous renter’s concert ticket stashed in the side pocket. Fun things like these make your riding experience most pleasurable and memorable. Well it did not take me long to hop down from the truck to go inside the rental store to place a complaint.

According to the salesperson, this was the only truck available in our requested size. Due to time constraints, we had no other choice than to rent the dirty truck. But not so fast, I persisted with my complaining, which made not one bit of a difference. “WAH, WAH, WAH, WAH, WAH, WAH!” Lost in translation. Again, I persisted because I wanted justice or compensation at the very least. At this point, the salesperson was just about ready to hand me a quarter to call someone who cared. Well, of all the nerve!

We ended up driving the truck to our intended destination and placed an online complaint. Aside from the dirty truck matter, what I most remember about this day is having my brother-in-law watch me become unglued at the seams. I’m sure he must have been thinking, “Good grief!”

Later that day, when we were all seated in our clean car, my brother-in-law made a very mature comment when I brought up the issue of the rental truck. In a gentle tone of voice, he pointed out that he would have politely asked the salesperson, “How may I be compensated for this inconvenience?” Well, that zipped me up rather quickly. It was a good lesson. This was my “Junior” moment. “If you don’t mind guys, I’ll just ride the rest of the way in the glove compartment. Oh, it’s no problem, I think I can fit.”

My mother was a very strong and independent woman. However, to her way of thinking, it wasn’t worth the gain, if in the process you lose control of yourself. My mother exhibited a preternatural self-control no matter what she faced in life. And because of this, people highly respected her.

Life at times can be challenging and frustrating and unfair and . . . insert your own adjective here. What it all comes down to is how well you row your own boat. And whether or not you enlist crew members to get on board or create a bona fide mutiny through your actions and behavior.