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Sometimes the southern belle really isn't a bimbo. Sometimes she's the smartest gal in the room. Why? Because she knows that being nice will get you a lot further in this world than being mean.
I went to the grocery this morning and was waiting at the meat counter. A man next to me was quite impatient and was getting hot headed with the man behind the counter. His voice and manner were escalating and demanded to see the manager. I was afraid he was going to have a heart attack. Thankfully he didn't.
But guess who got her meat before he did? Your's truly. The art of polite.
Another example. I call our health insurance company all the time. They always seem to lose my claims. Or mis-file them. Or forget about them. And I find that I get the best service when I act dumb and polite. I say, "I'm sorry but I must be confused. I thought I mailed them in 6 weeks ago. Oh, you have them? How nice! Can you please do that for me? Ahh...you'll put it in fast? Thanks! Gee we could really use that money." It works better than yelling at them like I want to.
I'm trying to teach this to Eloise. She whines. "Mooooooommmmmmmm........I waaannnntttttt moooorrrreeeeee MILK!!!!!!!" And it can really get on my nerves. And I'm not so nice.
In fact, I don't hear whining these days. If you whine, you'll probably be ignored in our house.
Then Eloise catches on. She says, "May I have more milk, please?"
"Absolutely!" I say.
If she nicely asked for candy nicely, I think I'd say yes. For a cookie, yes. For a movie, yes.
Just. Don't. Whine.
I think it's a lesson we can all keep in mind. Don't you?
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5 comments:
Love it!
I agree. I don't do whinning either. I also ignore them and occassionally remind them and wait until they are ready to ask nicely because I can't handle the whinning and if that means they throw a fit first then so be it but once they are done they either have forgotten what they wanted or come and ask nicely for it.
one of my favorite things about southern belles is their keen ability to work a room and a situation. they're smart, you got that right. need to get your way when facing a dissenting crowd? mimic a southern belle, i say. want your voice to be heard? turn on that charm deep down inside, twist a few words, and it'll come out alright.
though i wouldn't call myself a southern belle, 8 years in The Old North State (can you believe almost 8 years?!) has taught me when and how exactly to turn it on and off. and, i must say, i've been benefited from these fine-tuned skills.
Give yourself a pat on the back. Whining is a better expression of impatience than hitting!!! We are working hard on that one. I like your thoughts....Maybe I should start telling him, "A true southern gentleman never hits a lady!"
We have a "no whine zone" in the kitchen. Of course when I made that up I was drinking a glass of wine. I cracked my self up. I think I'm really funny and get tickled about it. Alex probably thought I was a big dork, but to his credit, he never said it.
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