Too Mean

I was introduced to the friend of a co-worker last night. Mimi introduced me this way: "This is [Disgruntled Bookseller]. She's the one who writes the blog." The friend responded, without a moment's hesitation, "Too mean."

I do hope that the readers of this blog understand that the blog is written for a purpose. It's called Disgruntled Bookseller, for Christ's sake. Obviously it has a point of view. And that point of view does not necessarily reflect the totality of my life or my personality. No, it merely reflects the frustrations, and also the joys, generated by my part-time job as a bookseller (and now part-time barista).

I am many things besides a bookseller. I am a loving daughter, sister, and aunt. I'm a good friend to the many people who are kind enough to bestow their friendship upon me. I'm the overly indulgent human being of two coddled felines. I'm a competent lawyer.

Sometimes I am perceived as "mean" to my co-workers at Big Bookstore. Not true. I am impatient. I am demanding. I am emphatic and forceful. I expect everyone to work as hard and as consciensciously as possible. I don't think that's unreasonable. Nor do I think it's mean.

As for the customers, I am as nice to them as they are to me. Often more so. I'd have been fired long ago for poor customer service if I responded to customers with the same level of (non)courtesy that they often tender to me. And that is why, instead, I write about them on the blog.

I like to think of myself as a kind, generous, and charitable person. Sure, I'm assertive and loud and have a tendency to take control of situations. But I am fundamentally nice. I am never mean without provocation or reason, solely for the sake of being mean. If that were the case, well, then this blog would be called "Disgruntled Human Being," no?

(Note to Mimi: Sorry I missed the Going Away Bash. I slept all day. Also, I was surfing the crimson tide, and damn if the sea wasn't rough. Pitiful excuses, I know.)