October 17, 2009
Saturday

I have tried really hard not to write any opinions on Sitnews and to say what is on my mind, but after reading so many of the letters written -- and granted the letters are just opinions -- it made me think. What if when we get put into situations that we don't like or agree with, we look at the situation as a whole?

Take for example customer service. I have worked in customer service for over 15 years and in that time I have had things thrown at me, threatened, stalked, yelled at and called every bad name that can come out of a dirty old sailor's mouth. It did take a while for me to realize, not to take those experiences personally. I learned a lot about people and what brings them to the state of being not so nice.

I myself have had a lot of extremely rude customer service experiences when I was the customer. It would be so easy to let the person behind the counter have a piece of my mind and tell them just how they need to be treating me, but then I stop for a second, take a deep breath and quickly tell myself, I have no idea what may have happened before I walked up to the counter to get assistance. How do I know that the person behind the counter didn't just 5 seconds before me get screamed at, threatened, their kid just got arrested for drugs, or is in ER for an overdose, or even worse, just told that they have cancer. Now they have to turn around and put a smile on their face without bursting into tears while numb in a state of shock. These have all happened to people that have waited on me.

The point of this little story is that the cup is half full. It is not always about us, and our feelings, and emotions. There is always going to be someone who has it harder in life and is being treated way worse than you. If we all just took a few minutes out of our day everyday to stop and be thankful, not thinkful, but thankful of the things we have -- you have 2 legs and 2 arms that work, you have a job while thousands of people are jobless, you have a roof over your head, the roof may be old, but you stay dry when it is raining.

Be thankful that you have people that love you, and even better than that, how about a community that comes together like no where else when a tragic thing happens. If we looked at our day with a positive attitude and any experience good or bad as a learning experience to grow from, we would not be so "butt hurt" when we felt as though we didn't get treated the way we thought we should have been. A smile goes a long way and it doesn't always have to start with the person in customer service standing behind the counter. Granted they are getting paid, but one by one we can change the world to be a better place,and it usually needs to start with you. Be the one that smiles first and say everything is going to be ok and watch how good not only will you feel, but when you're happy people want to know why and want some of it -- so share some happiness and positive vibes instead of complaining and focusing on the negative.

For every second, minute, month, even years you spend angry, mad, or hurt is time you never get back, and I don't know about you but I would like my time in a day to be happy. Life is too short.

With the health care and doctors please keep this in mind. The nurses and doctors are not God, they do not have a magical wand that they can whisk in the air to take away every pain and illness (they would if they could). They are human just like you and me, and at times they may make a mistake, and may not know the answer, for we all are not perfect. I can say this speaking from experience from having a surgery done by a very good doctor -- to oops, guess what? The doctor got the wrong test results and the emergency surgery was not needed(this simply was human error). I believe and hope that they learned something from their mistake. Granted I have one heck of 7 inch ugly scar, but everyday it reminds me that mistakes happen, and I am alive and breathing, and I know that the doctor at the time was doing the best that he/she could and was going off what was presented to him/her. No I did not sue, I sure could have, but then that would have made the doctors raise their rates along with the hospital just to cover the malpractice insurance, this is why it is so expensive to go to the hospital, doctors, tests. etc. I know some where down the road I may need them again or even be flown to Seattle, and by me not suing them helped everyone as a whole by not having to raise the cost of medical service for a while, at least I hope. I am not saying that this happened here, mistakes can happen anywhere, even if it is the best hospital in the world.

Please keep in mind this is just my opinion and is what keeps me going day after day, crisis after crisis to being able to look at the cup half full with a smile.

Ivy Rose
Ketchikan resident 24 years,
Ketchikan, AK

Received October 15, 2009 - Published October 17, 2009

Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:

Webmail Your Opinion Letter to the Editor

SitNews ©2009
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska