Turn-Offs: Rude People

Okay, so maybe Miss July (or August, or September, or October…) is showing a lack of a certain something by listing Mr. Bean’s Holiday as her favorite move ever, and maybe being turned on by “long walks on a quiet beach” shows a lack of imagination, but I think she’s on to something by declaring “rude people” to be a turn off.

In the business world, rude people are factoring more and more into what I do and it’s getting me down. The rude people are taking over the Earth. Or at least the assignment desks, the ticket counters, the lunch counters, the taxicabs, the reception desks, and myriad other places where people try to conduct business. A general lack of civility is becoming more and more acceptable and that makes going to work every day, to say nothing of life in general, much less enjoyable. Miss July (and Senator Stuart Smalley) would tell me to turn that frown upside down because, by golly, I’m worth it.

But the growing rudeness that’s so pervasive ultimately delivers the opposite message: you are, in fact, not worth it. You’re not worth my time, my interest, my money, my effort, my civility, or even a polite dismissal.

Rudeness comes in many forms.

1. There’s the “I hate my job so you should too” brand: people who are so demoralized or unhappy in their own work that the world must suffer along with them. I’m sorry you hate your job, but really, why must I pay? We’ve all had jobs we don’t like. We’ve all earned less than the slacker sitting next to us or the man who hired us. Learn what you can from it, take some pride in it, and move on. Berating the customers or your co-workers won’t make it – or you – any better.

2. There’s the “I’m too important to be dealing with you” type: people who answer the phone with a breathless single word thereby signaling that they are far too busy to bother with the likes of you. I find this mostly in large-market television newsrooms where the 20-something assignment editor is not so secretly angry that she is stuck on the desk taking pitch calls when she should reporting for 60 Minutes. “News!” she says, followed immediately by “Hold!” followed by Muzak® followed by, “Sorry, we’re really busy.” All of this is shouted. I’m sure you are really busy and it doesn’t help that newsrooms today are filling the same number of hours they did ten years ago with less than half the staff. Well, cry me a river. That’s the way of the entire business world.

3. There’s the “That’s above my pay grade” type: people who don’t really care if you get what you came for or not because they have nothing invested in your satisfaction. Your luggage is lost? Whatever. It’s not like it’s my airline. Your cell service is bad? Guess what, you’re call really isn’t important to us.

4. And there’s the “I never met a message I felt I had to return” group: Nuff said.

Even Miss July knows that unemployment is up, the economy is down, and she’s lucky to be sporting a pink slip instead of holding a pink slip. Those of us who are fortunate to have a job are working longer days and spending vacation time on conference calls and answering emails. It’s tough all over.

But do we have to get tough with each other?

What if:
We went back to small pleasantries such as “please,” “thank you,” and “how may I help you?”
We made that caller feel like there’s no one else we’d rather be talking to at that moment?
We offered to hold the door or thank the person who holds it for us?
We start returning phone calls and emails?
We all took a collective long walk on that quiet beach?

Felicia Knight is President of Knight Vision International, LLC