It's interesting how things have changed in just the last 10 years, heck even the last 5 years. Back in the 'not so distant past' when people communicated with other people they (at least) attempted to be pleasant, however something has changed.
My personal belief is that the "comment section" on social media has spawned a lot of this. Add to that an overload of toxins, insanely high stress levels, zero time for enjoying life, and a media news system that no one can trust.... and you have an entire society that can't have a civilized conversation about anything. In fact no matter what you believe, you can find articles and "research" to back up the fact that "you are right". Which equates to truth having no meaning whatsoever.
Now that everyone can publicly express their views about everything (and do), on a mass scale people are realizing that others have vastly differing opinions. I am not sure what is so shocking about that, but apparently that alone is enough to "hate" someone. If I don't eat the same foods as you, make the same healthcare choices as you, push the same button in the voting booth as you, love the same type person you do, worship the same god as you, then somehow "I" am wrong and "you" are right. What does "right" and "wrong" even mean anymore? On a basic level right and wrong used to be comparable to "good" and "evil". Such as doing something unselfishly ie: taking your elderly neighbor dinner = good or right, compared to doing something evil ie: hacking your neighbor up with an axe = bad or wrong. On a more generalized scale, helping others = good, hurting others = bad. Unfortunately most people today lean toward the "hurting others" category when electronic devices are involved.
"Right" and "wrong" are associated with differing opinions on every topic you can think of....and that's the point, they are just opinions....not life and death, not good or bad. In the normal course of a life opinions change as you grow and learn, but in today's world people are either "taught" an opinion or form an opinion and by god they stick to it no matter what they are told. Essentially that means no one is learning or growing. Maybe it's time we stopped ingraining the beliefs, opinions and choices that are passed down generation after generation and start thinking for ourselves. I know in my own family, my grandparents had beliefs and opinions that I do not agree with today. Where did they get those? Most likely from their parents. Step outside of what you "know" and look around. From the words of Dr Joe Dispenza "In an age of information, ignorance is a choice". Have an intelligent, respectful discussion about your experience of life instead of throwing hateful words or picking up weapons on the basis of an opinion.
When people bring anger to the table over differences, what they are essentially saying is "If you are not exactly like me then I don't like you"....."If you are not making the exact same choices that I make.....if you are not living the exact same life that I am....then on some level I have a problem with you....because your view of the world makes me uncomfortable"....and god forbid anyone actually embrace change. Let me throw out a little shocking statement here: No 2 people in existence nor in history have ever lived the exact same life. That's the brilliant thing about life... free will, free choice. We all make a million choices every day and no two of them are the same. Perhaps it's time we start recognizing and appreciating those differences instead of persecuting them. Of course, somehow the choices people make in their own lives seem to threaten the lives of others right? That's a whole other blog....
What I find so interesting and how this relates to business, is that people forget that there are human beings on the flip side of a computer screen. In our own company we repeatedly get rude emails from people acting like jerks. Actually, I should clarify that - our first 4 years of business, we never encountered one rude person, but in the last 12-18 months we've had more than enough to make up for the last 5 years. It's interesting to me that no matter how rude, horrible, short, or name calling someone will be via email....when you pickup the phone and call them, they are suddenly a different person. "Oh, it's actually a person I'm talking to and not a computer". I don't understand why people forget this. Maybe it's the years of being forced to talk to animated systems that don't comprehend when all you want is a human. Maybe it's the years of dealing with "Customer Service" people who "aren't allowed" to think for themselves but instead just read off of a script in response to whatever you say. Are people becoming more like computers or are computers becoming more like people? Has it gotten to the point where we would rather speak with a computer than a human being? I sincerely hope not.
Yet another reason why you should support small business. When you pickup the phone and call Dirty Girls Restoration (or when you are a jerk via email), you are actually speaking to the owners of Dirty Girls Restoration. We don't have 500 people in a call center in India with made up "American" names answering your emails or calls. We are owners of a company trying to keep our customers happy (which is not easy these days). People don't like phone calls anymore, they are considered disrupting and at times rude all in themselves. Let me tell you this, if you are a jerk to us - the first thing we will do is pickup the phone and remind you that you are speaking to a person. You have been warned.
Love each other, it's really the only thing that matters.
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