There something about train fares…
We seem to have a remarkable ability to get worked up about relatively modest amounts of money when it comes to train fares. If our request for a reduced fare is turned down (for legitimate reasons, of course, though we don’t see it that way at the time), we sometimes don’t handle it very well. Our ego is hurt.
Recently I saw one ticket-less guy take it really badly. He ended up storming off and jumping over the exit barriers. Except he didn’t make it at the first attempt and fell back on the wrong side. The indignity of that prompted more abuse towards the railwayman who had offended. I can’t repeat here what he said, but you can probably guess: two words, not very original. At one level, it was hilariously funny…
Ok, so we wouldn’t do that.
But how well do we accept having a request turned down; being told “no”?
Sometimes we do indeed need to push harder.
Other times we do better to accept with good grace.
How do you take “no” for an answer, when really you’d be best to? How do you keep your ego in check? How do you stay cool when you need to?
Worth working on.