Common Courtesy

Well, I have had a moment where I feel the need to rant and rave about common courtesy.

In life, we are all handed our own issues and we are who we are in the way that we handle them. This is the way of life. The issue that I have is that many people forget that there are many other people out in the world, and that there are moments that require some common sense and common courtesy.

What do you mean, Heather?

I mean "Do unto others as you would like done to you" and "the world does not revolve around you" and so forth and so on. 

If it is as I believe it is coming to be, the world has come much more narcissistic than I would like to see. Facebook and Twitter and all of these things that allow someone to put themselves out there for the populace to see, with the understanding that someone out there cares enough to read it.

This is also true for things like this blog. I admit, this is something that I enjoy doing, as it allows me to put myself out there, but I do not feel the need to share everything, nor do I get offended if one of you decides to stop reading. Sad, yes.. I feel I've not been entertaining enough. Offended? No.

But I digress... When people come to you and assume that all that you have to do is cater to their every whim and notion, that is when it becomes an issue to me. Do people not realize that business and life is carried out no matter what, busy and full of things that need to be taken care of before resorting to their important issues?

When people assume that if someone does not respond within 15 minutes to a question, that they are being ignored and that they are being insulted somehow really irks me.

Not that I don't love to hear back from someone within 5 minutes of pressing send, it is an issue that I do not have, because even in a world of Smart Phones, PDAs and constant Internet access, I am under the assumption that most people do not have their eyes glued to their e-mail. I would like to think most people believe that as well.

That people send half sentence e-mails and expect to be answered even though there is not enough information within the context of the e-mail to even understand completely what is being asked irks me. To not even address an e-mail with a name so that someone can know who they are talking to irks me.

Is this the way our society is falling? Sometimes I feel as if it is.

And of course, this may be all just a little phase that I am being exposed to, but I never understood how people can expect to be efficient and get answers and things done without laying it out on the table.

What sparked this???

I spent 3 hours and MANY e-mails back and forth with a potential customer in regards to animals that I didn't know what the person was interested in. I asked several times for that person to respond to me in more than one sentence so that things could be handled more smoothly. I never even got this persons name. But after three hours of attempting, I got a response I didn't appreciate in regards to my pricing, and I responded back, never to hear from that person again.

Was it worth it?

I like to think that people deserve the benefit of the doubt. I try to be gracious, even if my time is being taken away from more important things. Could I have walked away? Sure... But I wanted to help.

So when you see "Serious Inquiries Only" on ads from any breeder, this is mainly due to people like the person in question.

If you intend on breeding, you will get people like this. It's not pretty, it's not fun, and it is up to you how to deal with it.

I dealt with it the way I was taught. Common courtesy til the end.

Did it work out and did I get it in return? Nope.

Oh well...

But know that I am not ranting for the sake of those people who ask me legitimate questions.
I relish those, I really do. I like answering questions and I enjoy e-mail banter. I appreciate people checking up on me and just wanting to talk shop.

Just remember the common courtesies.

Have a great day, my friends!


Sincerely,

Heather