“What an interesting thing—you have a hedgehog without spikes, a fluffy one!” I said to one of the staff at the store I visited on Saturday.
“Yes, we wanted to attract non-prickly clients. But people are different,” he replied.
There were four customers in the shop. One bought something quickly and left. The other two—a couple—were clearly on edge. The man asked if they had plain breadsticks. The shop assistant replied they only had ones with olive oil, sesame, and rosemary.
To which the customer, irritated, offered what he thought was a lesson in assertiveness:
“I didn’t ask what kinds you have. I don’t care. I asked if you have plain breadsticks.”
The assistant calmly replied, “I understand—we don’t have plain ones.” But the customer wasn’t done with his ‘lesson.’
The woman wasn’t much calmer either. She didn’t ask for a bag, so why was he putting her purchases in one?
Still, I appreciated how the shop assistant didn’t mirror their tone. He stayed composed. He only said to me, quietly, “People are different.”
Unfortunately, their strategy of attracting non-prickly customers occasionally failed.
I thought—this happens in companies too.
Some people feel entitled to treat others with zero empathy, arrogantly doling out lessons and putting others in their place. They see themselves as superior—more rational, smarter, more deserving, blessed with a special star above their heads.
Sure, we all have off moments. We all get frustrated, prickly—even like the customers above.
But some people are always ready to pick a fight, to show others “the right path,” to assert dominance and prove they know better than anyone.
Here’s a suggestion: try that approach at home, in front of a mirror—not on others.
Actually, not even with the one person who accepts us just as we are: our mother.
Even she doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.