Where does negative aggression come from?Today I visited a very well known Computer store. I had gone to return a faulty keyboard and also to place an order for a laptop. The keyboard was worth about £5 the laptop a lot more (with all the accessories included).
I was served by the store manager. Out of nowhere came such rudeness – I know that in the UK we are not very good at working in service industries (the Yanks have service down to a fine art!) However, this man took rudeness to a new level. When I threatened to complain he said ‘go ahead’ when I told him that I wouldn’t shop there again he said ‘I don’t care’. He refused to replace the keyboard and consequently lost the laptop sale.
When I got home I emailed a formal complaint – the outcome is a promised £20 gift voucher (to buy a new keyboard) and a letter of apology from the man concerned.
Later in the day I felt guilty – although I had done nothing to provoke such aggressive surliness was I right to complain. As Christians where do we draw the line between letting people walk all over us and turning the other cheek?
Being ‘humble’ has an honest almost honourable ring to it but being ‘humiliated’ doesn’t – are the two words synonymous?
Answers on a postcard please.
Love and prayers
A
1 comment:
Andrew,
It's interesting you bringing this up as I have been reading Tolstoy on one of my many train journeys in the States. I've only read the first couple chapters of 'kingdom is within you' but it is already very challenging, in terms of Christ's teachings not being a 'mystical religion' but a workable philosophy. It relates much to the lifestyle issues that you talk about.
Funnily enough, Tolstoy only seems to address physical violence (so far), and not verbal! I guess Tolstoy never had to deal with a computer salesman...
A couple more questions:
- Are we meant to draw a line? Did Christ?
- Is humiliation (and its results ie. destruction of pride and self) an often ignored part of the holiness experience?
In the first couple chapters, Tolstoy has mentioned the SA a couple times. The book was written in 1894 from what I can gather.
John C
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