I have been working with people for many years throughout my jobs. Mostly in a position where the customers were the kings and queens, I served them differently.
I came across many different characters, wishes and behaviors.
For me, the turning point was when these places became a place to release inner tension, unhappiness, or boredom for the customers. They were not coming because they needed something but to find something that would make them feel better. Unfortunately, this way is a short-term satisfaction. What this “knowing” they always have right made our jobs in the moments unbearable. It was impossible to meet at eye level, so we started to put a “mask” on our faces and act as actors in a role where for the customers, everything is allowed, and they are always right without permission to say something. Of course, there are exceptions, and sending thanks for them, but this unspoken agreement has become very obvious, massive, and unnatural through the years. We know it already from our history.
Are we still want to repeat it? The tacit understanding was that we could go to other places to spend our money if you don’t play our part in our job. You get a complaint, and you lose your job. I have to clarify that it was never a big deal to pamper the customers, and I was happy to see them satisfied. Years after years, it’s become more and more challenging to see and reach that satisfaction. Where is here the line where we say enough? Should we not have respect for any jobs we do? Doesn’t it matter in which “class” we work? As human beings, we are not our jobs.
Why are we behaving differently at home with our things and loved ones than with people and the items in the trade to the moment we desire them? At that moment, changes our validation in it? We must respect both the purchase offers and the people to serve you. It doesn’t matter where; it could be in the shop, mall, or restaurant. This approach is fragmented behavior, and it sometimes happens on an unconscious level. Maybe we are unaware of that, but checking our mindset behind our coexistence is relevant. We are oversaturated and privileged to have these possibilities with many offers in any direction. We should not forget to value it. Or even to recognize that we don’t need so much material wealth. Sometimes we can realize that less is more.
Respect all living things and everything that we encounter. We are communicating on the energy level, consciously or unconsciously, so please be aware of what we send out.
Can we stay patient if there is a line for the cash register or if we need to wait longer for the food? Can we show respect by trying on clothes and leaving them upside down in the changing room? Where is the balance of giving and receiving, spending and serving, tolerance and respect? Take a moment and reflect on whether it is our job to cope with inpatient behavior or pick up the clothes from the floor. Nowadays, nobody has time, but if we want to stay calm and relaxed, we should take time for everything we do and be present. We can experience that and can do our daily chores with ease.
A good reminder is that behind every job in the world stands a person whose life is happening outside, and we don’t know what is happening there, but we can have compassion not to be perfect and that we can’t wear this mask all the time. Why do we love an imaginary kindness if we know it is fake in the big picture? Are we dependent on this feeling of being treated like a queen or king? Is it maybe only our ego that wants attention?
We are the ones who can feel the holes in us. Only we, nobody, and nothing else will fill this hole. It is unbuyable. It is free. Even a stranger serving you can impact you positively or negatively. Each event is for a reason there. That’s why I appeal to the human being besides our personal beliefs, and welcoming the exchange on eye level brings us back to a healthier, truthful coexistence. Where strangers are no more strangers but somebody who is here to serve you in the best possible way, so when they come to you and ask for your service, they will be delighted on both sides. This way, we will treat others like we would like to be treated, not only in our family and social circle.
Especially in those days after a “pandemic” reopenings where everybody was coping with the situation on his way of possibility, most of us had more time for ourselves than ever before, but nothing changed; it became even worse, to my surprise. The customers need to wear a face mask, but we, on the other side of serving, wear the face mask for many hours each day. Where is the toleration of both sides? Why is it going again only in one direction? We are in challenging times. We need to ask ourselves, with how many face mask layers can we cope? Please look at the other side of the table, offer your hand, and be aware of our unperfect beauty as human beings.
If we are looking for perfection, we should dive deep inside ourselves and not search for it outside of ourselves. We can step out of the frames of the “modern” society and become more whole in every action we do, less fragmented for the sake of our existence and coexistence.
You are a queen or king, so act like one.
