(no subject)
At lunch in the cafeteria today I had a little encounter. I ate my salad as usual and got up to get the rest of my meal. My book and my laptop were expensive so I took the with me, leaving my drink, bowl, and cutlery behind. On returning I found a girl with her friends moving my stuff out of the way and sitting down.
“I was sitting there.”
A look of shock and annoyance, “If you want, I can move.”
“No, you can continue to sit there.” I gathered my stuff up. “But you should just know that I was sitting there.”
It occurred to me as I sat elsewhere watching them and eating that she had to have assumed that I, and unknown stranger, had left my dirty plates and unfinished drink for somebody else's inconvenience. It annoyed me that she would assume the worst of me, so I decided to leave her with some advice.
Once she got off her cell phone I walked over and, with smile and in pleasantness, said, “I wanted to come over here and apologize. I was a little curt to you earlier. I should have at least taken the time to guilt you properly.
“Your mistake was that you assumed the worst about your fellow man. I saw the look of disgust on your face when you were moving my dishes.
“Try to have a little more faith in humanity. Give the benefit of the doubt a little more often. Maybe you'll make this place a little nicer, a little less like New York, a little more like New Jersey.
“Take care and have a great day.”
Even when I had finished my meal and left, the look of disbelief still hadn't left her face.
“I was sitting there.”
A look of shock and annoyance, “If you want, I can move.”
“No, you can continue to sit there.” I gathered my stuff up. “But you should just know that I was sitting there.”
It occurred to me as I sat elsewhere watching them and eating that she had to have assumed that I, and unknown stranger, had left my dirty plates and unfinished drink for somebody else's inconvenience. It annoyed me that she would assume the worst of me, so I decided to leave her with some advice.
Once she got off her cell phone I walked over and, with smile and in pleasantness, said, “I wanted to come over here and apologize. I was a little curt to you earlier. I should have at least taken the time to guilt you properly.
“Your mistake was that you assumed the worst about your fellow man. I saw the look of disgust on your face when you were moving my dishes.
“Try to have a little more faith in humanity. Give the benefit of the doubt a little more often. Maybe you'll make this place a little nicer, a little less like New York, a little more like New Jersey.
“Take care and have a great day.”
Even when I had finished my meal and left, the look of disbelief still hadn't left her face.