Firstly, my sincere apologies for being silent for quite some time as I have been quite busy lately. Plus I was on leave since Monday with quite limited internet access.
Anyway, today, I wish to talk about interacting with narrow-minded people. Have you dealt with people who simply can’t take small critics?
For instance, when you tell them something about them directly to them, (but in the nicest way) they quit talking to you after that because they got offended though any one with some common sense would know that you are actually doing them a favor by telling them straight forward than to bitch behind their back!. So here’s the outcome: they quit talking to you. Ok, fine, they got angry. They cried their heart out because they are under the category of extremely emotional people. In a simpler term: hyper-sensitive type of person. So now, each time they see you from afar, they quickly turn their face elsewhere so that by the time you are near them, it’s like a mutual understanding: I didn’t see you, I don’t have to say hello. Perhaps you have become like a danger zone to them. Any nearer, it can be harmful.
Yes, I am smiling as I just typed that, hey not because I am mean! It’s just that I find it so ridiculous and in a way, funny too. Ok, maybe I am being just a bit mean now bitching about it here but I have already tried being as nice as I can by approaching that person!! OK in case you have my doubts on my story, here’s what has happened: -
NML (narrow minded lady) speaks quite rudely over the phone many times with anyone except with the bosses. Some others have complained about her phone etiquettes to me. And after experiencing it many of times myself, I’ve decided to call her back (just a minute after taking her rude call) and explained to her that her voice, her tone and her way of speaking over the phone is very rude and people who do not know her might mistaken her as a very rude, nasty person. By the way, she picks up incoming calls for the company and no, angry and nasty is not her nature ( I would like to believe that ) in case if you are thinking of that, because I’ve seen her in her jolly mood – totally different from the rude phone calls incidents. Meaning to say, she can choose to be nice over the phone if she wants to because she’s not a gloomy person. If she’s under stress, then I would like to suggest her to read my article on handling
stress. I found out later that after the conversation with me, she slammed the phone down and started crying. I was like… huh????
I wish I do not have to be involved at all in this matter but, what can I do? My boss told me recently that I need to assists him with some human resource tasks and having said that, sadly it involves phone etiquettes as well. Hence, I have no choice. It’s either me or my boss to tell her. I honestly thought I did her a big favor by approaching her before my boss does. But of course, in this proven case, NML is not happy and in fact is keeping a grudge against me despite my soft approach. Perhaps, I should not approach her anymore on any other issues in the future. Perhaps, approaching my boss directly would be a better solution. As much as I would like to go up to her again and explain that I am not here to find trouble with her, my inner voice tells me not to. Let them be for it’s better to stay away from Narrow minded people.
