Licensed to Rant

After 3 months in which a local shop failed repeatedly and with incredible persistence to correctly manufacture the glasses I ordered from them, I found myself one morning walking down the street,  and thinking what I was going to include in my already elaborate and nasty rant to be given to the shop people later that day.

By all means the situation gave me the right to be pissed, but as I was getting angry by just thinking about the incompetence of the people who work in that temple of stupidity where I made the horrible mistake to order the damn spectacles, it downed on me that many times we just feel entitled to rant when the smallest of things is not exactly like we dreamt.

Think about the last time you or a friend of yours complained a little too much and too loud about how a waiter was slow to take your order or how the salesman at X or Y shop was not that nice or so on. It’s like whenever we go in a shop or restaurant somebody gives us special permission to bitch about everything.

I believe that this eagerness to rant about all and everything, even when the reasons are not that good, is fueled by 3 things:

1. Very bad experiences, like my 3 month soap opera for some glasses, teach us that you have to get nasty in order to obtain what you paid for.
2. We tend to abuse our power as a customer, just because we can. The unfortunate guy or gal behind the counter has to smile, because “the customer is alway right!”.
3. It’s easier to bark at people than to be constructive.

I’m going to go and make the people at that eyeglasses shop wish they were never born, because of their incredible incompetence, lack of tact and, what I hate from the bottom of my heart, the inability to admit that they can’t do it. However, every time something will bug me in a shop or restaurant I’ll try to think first and not just act based on experiences like this.

NOTE: The same day I wrote the draft for this post Seth Godin, who I greatly admire, wrote this post, which is somewhat related. It’s a good, short read and I recommend it.

Don’t forget to tell me what YOU think about this? Are we licensed to rant when we enter a shop? Or should we be more human and think before we open our mouths. Waiting on you comments!