The law of the garbage truck

I got told off by one of my clients today. Yes, in case you are wondering, working in a service-oriented industry sucks. Big time. It's unbelievable how office politics can get so ugly in some companies and the victim this time, unfortunately, happened to be someone out of the company: me. She (sadly, women are extremely prone to mood swings, more often than not) didn't even want to hear my explanation.

Perhaps she's having menopausal depression.

Or maybe she didn't get any from her husband last night.

Kudos to her for ruining my whole morning – Thursdays are supposed to be one of my favorite days of the week, after Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday; in that exact order.

I would also like to take this opportunity to retract my apology for the following reasons:-

(1) First and foremost, I am adamant that I didn’t do anything wrong

(2) If she has done her job in the first place then this wouldn’t have happened. I find it extremely amusing that this thought has never crossed her mind.

(3) Last but not least, people who behave like a**es do not deserve any apology. After all, we don’t go about saying that we're sorry to donkeys after accidentally stepping on their tails, do we?

But then again, I remembered this forwarded gem that I received in my inbox not too long ago:

Law of the Garbage Truck by Author Unknown One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. He was really friendly. So I asked, 'Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!' This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, 'The Law of the Garbage Truck.' He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so... love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't.

I guess I shouldn't take it personally; after all, I'm much better than that.

I ain't no garbage collector,