One Tough Nut

Have you ever gotten a pistachio, that has no crack in it's shell?  That nut that is frustrating in it's perfectly encased packaging???  You just want to take a hammer to it and smash it open?  If you do that, then the nut is just a crushed mess of intermingled crumbs and shell.  Not very appealing, and certainly more difficult to salvage the good pieces.  Well, I'm going to liken this to a person who is hard to deal with.  You know the ones that are unpleasant, rude and extremely guarded in their interactions.  They are the ones that leave us wondering, "WTF???" Our first inclination is to snap back, giving them the same rude and impatient behavior they've given us but when you work in the customer service field, it is even more important to understand how to handle this type of person and once you get it, it's quite surprising. When you deal with all kinds of personalities and quirks, the one thing that can make a difference is, conversation.  How we phrase what we say and how we handle, the less than cordial customer can change an altercation from either bad to good, or bad to worse.  Surprisingly, it's not only what we say, but also, what we hear.  You see, everyone has a story and until we unearth that story, we will never really know where this person is coming from. By simply pausing, and being receptive to their need to talk, we become the recipient of trust, but the pause needs to be sincere.  It can not be a halt to the conversation where we put our receptors in freeze mode.  As tempting as it is to stop listening and start thinking about our own response, we need to listen without interruption from our own thoughts. This can be the leveler that makes us all more human and more approachable. It's actually one of the most rewarding aspects of working with a wide array of people. Once you catch a slight break in the shell, the eventual release is a gratifying revelation. So the next time you encounter a tough nut, as trying as it may appear, hang in there.  The hard exterior is almost always protecting a softer, more vulnerable interior that is awaiting an appropriately timed displacement.