Something To Consider...

I have wanted to write this particular blog post for a long while, but waited until the Mercury Retrograde was over so that it was not misunderstood.

When I refer to “no dumping” I am referring to the escalating (and alarming) practice among friends, family and (especially) strangers, to unload their problems, issues and/or general disgruntled (negative) feelings/conversation on people who do not ask, nor want to share it. If you think you can’t handle it, imagine what you are doing to the person you dump on. They are not prepared for the negativity you want to impart, and therefore will not be of much comfort to you because they may not be in the position to give advice. All you will succeed in doing is passing on negativity to make yourself feel better. That is not sharing, that is dumping. If you want to unload, it is spiritually important that you ask permission before doing so, and then do so in a private venue as a courtesy to others.

The most notorious dumping is done via cell phones. For instance, I was at the local beauty parlor, nail salon or spa, where (unfortunately) people are not reminded to turn off cell phones so as not to disturb others. We are there to decompress, relax and enjoy being pampered, not to take in the negativity of someone else. Imagine what it feels like to hear someone talking loud, for all to hear, about the latest disease or death the caller is relating to them over the phone. One such woman carried on so much about how their family member died, that we were all treated to a wonderfully negative blow-by-blow description of the horror of it all. No one told her to stop. The depression just filled the place as a result. No one bothered to ask her to take it outside. We were all held hostage in her little personal phone booth.

In this economy, the owner of the salon was only interested in not offending (thus losing) the ONE customer, in favor of losing the 10 others who were reduced to listening to this. Ultimately, one by one, each person simply got up and left the place. They were angry, and one woman was SO angry that on her way out the door, she actually ripped the phone out of the person’s hand and threw it in the trash, sending shock waves through the salon.

If you want others to be sympathetic to your plight, you have to be sensitive to the fact that they didn’t sign up for your “news,” and should be asked if it’s okay to listen to it. That applies to whether you are on the phone or sitting at the nail dryer chatting with a fellow customer.

Establishment owners please take note: We pay to be pampered. We are not paying to be put upon. We all have things in our lives that we would rather not deal with, but the misery loves company adage no longer works in the world we live in today. The rage, disrespect and outright rudeness needs to stop. NO MORE DUMPING! Ask first. Or, better yet, BLOG it, because only then is it ok because the person has to seek your blog out, and that is by their choice, and by their permission.