Attitudes
So I have another client who refuses to look at me when I say "good morning" to her. Today for our meeting, she stood near the doorway, did not sit down--half-turned as though ready to walk out at any moment.
I suppose I could have asked/told her to have a seat, pressed the issue, but I just ignored it, didn't allow it to visibly rattle me or cause me to race or stumble through what I needed to discuss. I pretended like we were having a normal meeting.
Part of me wonders if this is one of those learning opportunities for me. If it's a time when I need to step up and address the situation, demand her respect by not putting up with this disrespecful nonsense.
But most of me just doesn't care. Her behavior is pretty laughable, really (She's an adult! What is this attitude business??), and I just don't feel up to caring about it. Her time as my client will conclude in a few weeks, and she'll have to deal with her life and live it instead of blaming me for everything. She doesn't affect me after the moment she walks out my door.
I wonder if that's the growth?
I suppose I could have asked/told her to have a seat, pressed the issue, but I just ignored it, didn't allow it to visibly rattle me or cause me to race or stumble through what I needed to discuss. I pretended like we were having a normal meeting.
Part of me wonders if this is one of those learning opportunities for me. If it's a time when I need to step up and address the situation, demand her respect by not putting up with this disrespecful nonsense.
But most of me just doesn't care. Her behavior is pretty laughable, really (She's an adult! What is this attitude business??), and I just don't feel up to caring about it. Her time as my client will conclude in a few weeks, and she'll have to deal with her life and live it instead of blaming me for everything. She doesn't affect me after the moment she walks out my door.
I wonder if that's the growth?
posted by LE at 6:11 AM
2 Comments:
Ellie, your experience reminds me of some encounters I've had with students when they come to appointments late (or not at all) and skip class. Then they give all these disrespectful excuses, and there are times I demand better from them and there are times I just kind of let it slide. And I think the same kind of thing you do about your client -- that eventually, in my case, the semester ends, and then they'll have to deal. And maybe, somewhere down the road, our examples will sink in. Who knows? It's good you don't let her affect you afterwards -- that is growth, definitely.
Ellie, it sounds like you are handling it in the most professional way possible.
It's like when I hear from one student that another student thinks we're in a "fight" because I got tough with them about not practicing or something. Dude, I'm 35. I don't get in "fights" with teenagers. And you, my friend, don't get in "fights" with people who act like teenagers!
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