After a grueling and very enjoyable 4th of July weekend, I decided to go for a run today to try and detox a little. Five minutes into the run I turn down a street and see this woman eyeing me. At first, I was sort of far away so it was hard to make out what she was saying. As I got closer, I could see she was actually yelling at me for spitting earlier claiming the whole world was going to shit and this "asshole" was out here spreading disease. (I understand spitting is not the most charming thing in the world, but when you're on a run and no one is in your vicinity I don't see any issues personally.) By the time I was about 20 feet away this woman proceeded to start yelling at me "Man boobs, man boobs, you have man boobs". As someone who grew up "big-boned" I've heard a lot of these insults and by the time I got to high school I was no longer phased by fat jokes. I looked at this woman who I would describe as an "Overweight crackhead" and said you're pretty fit yourself haha. The lady proceeded to huff very loudly and yell what a beautiful woman she is. (Keep in mind I'm like mid-run here so having a conversation is not easy) I yell back "You sure are" and she yelled back something I couldn't make out entirely but based on her tone it didn't sound very pleasant. Before I was completely out of her sight I yelled "Have a great day" and she shot me a bird. I went on to crush my run and rather than running the 25 minute guided run I set as a goal I ended up hitting continue after the 25 minutes was up and ran just over 4 miles. I can't lie there were parts of the run I fantasized about saying some truly mean things to this woman who berated me for no reason other than she didn't like the fact I spit on the sidewalk and was running shirtless. I know my two initial responses were very sarcastic, but ultimately I wished her a great day and she gave me the motivation to crush my run so I'm thankful I had this encounter.
It might seem silly, but I'm damn proud of myself for taking the high road because after reflecting on this after my run it's a good analogy for how cold calls can go. Often I'll get a prospect who no matter what I say is an absolute asshole. I can spend my energy trying to argue and hurl insults back or I can get on with my day, wish them well, and find someone who is actually willing to have a conversation. I could've stopped my run, said some very mean things to this woman and made her day genuinely worse when she was clearly already having an awful day if she's willing to poke fun at a stranger. Instead, I only said positive things (even if they were sarcastic in the beginning) and used her negative energy as motivation to grind even harder. Curious as to how other savages would've handled this situation?
P.S It's important to stand up for yourself, but often times people project their own insecurities onto others, and being able to draw the line and say that's not cool while doing everything in your power to help that person is often the better move than attacking them right back. Two wrongs don't make a right.
P.S.S Running is the ๐ hangover cure ๐คฃ๐ค
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