Saturday, September 3, 2016

Being Grateful in a World of Entitlement

Whether I am working online, teaching, serving coffee, running a meeting, giving a seminar or exhibiting at a show, I am in the public sphere on a regular basis. Providing service is what I do for fun, entertainment and for a living--and I love to do it. So I am often witness to a disturbing and increasingly common attitude of entitlement. And it concerns me greatly.

While some blame weak parenting styles and attribute it a specific generation or millennials, in fact the entitlement syndrome permeates society of all ages, backgrounds and genders. I liken it to those bad, thoughtless drivers who cut us off, won't give an inch to let you merge into traffic or tail you even though you are travelling at the speed limit in the right hand lane. Nobody in the room would ever do that, right? Yet someone does--a lot of someones. So maybe it is time we all took a long hard look at ourselves and asked the question, "Am I a self-important, always right, narcissistic jerk who deserves more than anyone else?"

Someone somewhere said, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." But a squeaky wheel is a legitimate need. A complainer, is often just trying to get more for themselves, at the expense of others.

So, for the self-entitled and needy, if you enter my booth at a show, please remember, you are stepping into my territory and my property which I am providing at great expense and with an incredible amount of work. Be respectful of my staff, my other customers and my inventory. Please shop at your pleasure for that is why I am there. Form a line for service if you are asked to. Don't ask why my products are so expensive. This question does not deserve an answer. Don't ask me to accept a lower price. I am not running a flea market. And most importantly, if I ask you leave the booth please do so quickly and quietly. Thank you.

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