..for helping to teach me patience. It's funny, you know, because we all encounter a lot of characters during the course of any day.... any day that we venture out into the so-called public that is. Well, I wear a number of different hats: there's no doubt about it. And, it occurs to me that some of my hats seem to conflict. I'm like a guy switching between a beret, cowboy hat, top hat, baseball cap, and .... well, you get the idea. And, I hope you do, because I'm not sure that I do : ). But, the idea is that we've all got different little roles and jobs and so forth, you know, and one of my hats is the salesman hat. Well, my approach to this is pretty much consistent with all my hats (there goes the whole "hat" thing...oh well....no rewrites blogger boy!) . I'm basically polite, and I listen. Now, I'm not trying to tell you that I'm Mother Theresa and the greatest guy who ever lived. I'm not. But, basically, I place a high value on basic politeness/civility, and I feel that this is sadly often lacking from my society. I could go on and on about this. Let's say that I've often been told: "Kemal, you are so polite!" This still strikes me as strange, because people intend it as a type of compliment, and, to me, that's just the way you're supposed to be. It's like if someone thanked you for chewing your food. That's just what you do when you take a bite of something edible: you chew it...and, likewise, when you interact with people, you act civil.

So, to get to the point...today at work, there's a lady, let's just say she's large and in charge. Well, she's got a grievance, and she's wrong, and this is often the case with customers. That's just the way it is. You know the saying, "The customer's always right"? Well, that saying is, basically, stupid. Okay, so, this lady is aggravated, and, she's turning redder and redder, and, what it amounts to is someone else, from a different company, was passing the buck, and he directed her to me. He shouldn't have done that. I was nicely explaining this to her. And, as she's turning redder and redder, picture a large tomato head yelling: "So, what you're saying is you're not going to help me? YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HELP ME YOU'RE TELLING ME!" Picture me: "Ma'am, the thing is that I'd like to help you, but I can't." And, trust me, this was true...I won't get into the specifics of the situation, because it would take too long, but there was nothing I could do for her. Basically, some joker, typical fashion, passed the buck. Anyway, I felt myself starting to get a little ticked. I tended bar for a few years, and, believe me, it takes a good bit to get to me. I've had drunken folks make remarks like, "You're not going to serve me in an American bar!" The idea being that Kemal Faruquee, though he speaks English and was born in Pennsylvania, couldn't refuse to serve a drunk, "American" fellow. So, from tending bar and dealing with a bunch of aggravating alcoholics, I learned how to let a lot of things slide..

Yet, this tomato-faced lady getting loud with me touched a nerve. You know, I'm only human! And, this gal touched a nerve. That's when I remembered one of the Dalai Lama's messages. Well, I ought to, I've heard my mother express this idea quite a few times. The premise: Don't get upset with obnoxious ladies (and other annoying folks for that matter.) Be happy and thankful that they crossed your path. Stay cool. What they're doing is teaching you patience. And, that's part of why I love the Dalai Lama so much. Who else could come up with something like that? And, thus, I regained my composure and finished explaining things to this lady. She wasn't appeased, but she did eventually give up. As I watched her big head disappear into the distance, I thought to myself, "Thank you obnoxious lady for helping to teach me patience."