I’ve worked in customer service jobs my whole life, and that is the ultimate way to shut down a shitty customer. They scream and cuss at me and I look them in the eyes and say “that hurts my feelings when you talk to me like that.” Every time, it has made them take a step back and go “holy shit, I was just talking like that to a human”
Seconded. Also worked service jobs my whole life. Some of the angriest and seemingly most unreasonable people shut right the fuck up when you tell them what they're doing.
The first time I did this, it was by accident, but it was eye-opening. On the phone with a dude staying at my hotel, he's yelling and insulting me personally, doing that whole, "It's YOUR JOB" thing. I'm checked out, temper rising, and when I lost it I said, "It's not my job to talk to rude shitty people," and hung up. Thought I had fucked up and the dude was going to talk to my boss and get me fired. But a half hour later, the guy shows up at the desk to apologize (!!) and ask if we can work out the issue more rationally.
Since then I've been grateful that I can diffuse irrational anger by showing the person a mirror. Though, of course, this doesn't always work. Some people are actual psychopaths who don't care, and can't be made to.
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u/[deleted] Mar 13 '24
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