Rude People Suck

My knee hurts. And my eye feels like I stabbed myself with a mascara wand. I don't think that I did. But I was semi-conscious this morning when I got ready, so maybe I did and I just wasn't totally awake? 'Tis possible.

It looks like today is the day people. Today is the day I break down and actually see a doctor about my knee (you know instead of pretending to like before). I'm going to lie if possible. This is getting ridiculous. Maybe they will have to amputate.

But we are not going to talk about my various ailments today. I think we have more than covered those (and thank you again for all your advice and diagnoses). No, no, today we will discuss rudeness.

Rude has totally become my watchword. I'm appalled by the lack of respect and professional courtesy shown to me and my co-workers on a daily basis. So what do you do when you become the victim of unwarranted rudeness? You take to your blog to whine about it like any good Gen Y-er would. Obviously.

Before we go any further I would like to relate to you something that I just heard Veronica say. Veronica, who is supposed to be on a diet and exercise regime to help her lose lots of weight before her upcoming trip to South Africa.

I just ate everything. I was in so much pain but I didn't care I just kept on eating. Pizza and burgers and freezies, I wanted it all. I didn't even drink any water all weekend

...

Yeah. Looks like its going well.

Back to the rudeness.

I'm not sure when it became OK for supervisors and managers to set up rules about social conduct in the office only to blatantly break these rules themselves. Apparently its not alright for us to discuss any social encounters we may have planned for after hours but Veronica and Amy and other managers are allowed to stand around and discuss the possibility of post-work drinks, text and call each other during work to plan it out and relive it days later. Try setting rules and then following them. You know, lead by example and all that jazz.

I cannot even count the amount of times in the past few weeks that I have overheard supervisors speak to 'their' employees with a serious lack of any kind of respect. I have heard them belittle, demean and scoff at, 'their' teams. You know what doesn't inspire people to work hard for you? When they feel like they are being mocked. Telling people that you will show them how to do something while you roll your eyes at them is not an effective management skill. Try common courtesy or a modicum of professional respect.

Finally, when people outside of the office (like reps for instance) treat your employees rudely, try going to bat for them. I don't really care that the person is "just blunt" or that they are older and "set in their ways", I will not be treated like some stupid, second rate employee because you don't feel like confronting the person about their rude and unprofessional conduct. I'm not the whipping boy OK? I deal with enough crap from you guys without getting snarky emails and dealing with irate reps on the phone. Its not my fault that they don't know what they are doing and the systems are crashing down all around you. Tell them to keep their tempers under control and flex that polite muscle they didn't even know they had. Because you know what? If you treat me with respect and courtesy, I will go to the ends of the earth to make things happen for you. Treat me like sh*t and you will wish you were never born.

I think we have covered the fact that I hate my job. But I really despise rudeness. You are in positions of authority and instead of abusing that (I'm looking at you Veronica) maybe try cultivating a kind of corporate culture that doesn't make people want to stab their own eyes out (with or without mascara wands).

Rude people suck.

And that is my final, very eloquent thought on the matter.