A small emergency aid when someone grates on your self-esteem

Knowing you are a good person can get you through anything. I've been terrorized and brutalized more times than I can count - but for today; I was thinking of the smaller moments that catch you off guard and can wound if not careful.  I was thinking of a young pretty waitress I met yesterday. She was being reprimanded and condescended to for no reason save for the sick satisfaction it gave the current patron in question to be domineering and a bit sadistic.

The waitress stood there and took it with grace, but I could see the slight lilt in her posture, the change in her expression. 

So, I had a little talk when she came around to serve me my drink at the pool. 

Here is what we chatted about: 

Me: 7 years of cocktail waitressing - the usual need to pay for college etc...

Burned my waitressing shoes after getting my Masters; my testament to leaving that part of life behind for good.

2 months later I found myself in need of work and it was back to cocktailing at a posh hotel nightclub. Of course the patrons there;  and yes I'm talking the women... on dates with their considerably older, wealthy men, would look me up and down and sneer at me. The favorite would be the condescending way in which they would order and look at me with a smirk as though I was so beneath their stature.

Now of course having a thick skin is what gets most hospitality/service people through their days. Sometimes though a few bad days happen - or a rough home life is about all you can take and strangers battering against your your self-esteem fortress (plenty of that in future posts) well, sometimes they get through.

So here is what I've internalized and shared for over 15 years now with others I see being dealt with poorly by those they are attending to.  'Think to yourself... "I have to deal with you for maybe 20 minutes -  You, have to be 'that person' for the rest of your life". This is where the inner smile takes over and blooms into a warm generous service with a smile persona, regardless of what daggers may be thrown your way.  

Being a good person... If you know you are, you can get through anything
thought id end with a table i painted... its a big cable spool... fun to do it... love working in blue.