A few months ago, I was at a restaurant with my family. A heated argument erupted between the shift manager and a waiter when we sat down. From the tone of the exchange between them, it seemed like we had arrived at a dispute that had started long before we arrived. The manager was furious at the waiter for breaking a tray with dishes, and he replied back to her, “Get out of my face.” Then, she yelled, “That’s it, I’ve had it with you!” She ordered him to put down his apron and told him his shift was over. The waiter stormed out of the restaurant. We and the other customers felt uncomfortable from the incident. Some customers even wanted to complain to the owner of the restaurant.
I tried to analyze the situation, or more simply put, whose fault it was. The waiter was very rude and what he said is not something you say to your manager (or even any other person). At the same time, I thought the shift manager acted unprofessionally by arguing with her employee in the middle of a (small) restaurant. I also thought about how contagious emotions are. Even though my family and I were not part of the argument, it made us feel uncomfortable and left a negative feeling for a while.
The following Friday, we had a big family dinner. I got to see relatives I had not seen for a while. It always makes me laugh to hear sentences like, “Wow, it’s amazing how your girls grew up so much.” (Of course, they did. You haven’t seen them in three years.)
During dinner, I had a disagreement with one of my relatives on a topic I have a lot of knowledge about. I started to get really upset when he criticized my perspective, especially when he barely provided any facts to........