Fact: you cannot have a professional conversation if the other person refuses to behave like a professional. I am working with a woman old enough to be my mother, yet she cannot behave like a rational human being and instead insists upon belittling me to my face and in front of others. You can tell she makes other people uncomfortable and extremely unhappy. She lives a life filled with stress, fear and obvious inadequacy issues--I'd dislike her if I didn't feel so terribly sorry for her.
How can life be at all happy when you live in a pit of sorrow and can't see the forest for the trees?!
I was taught, in these situations, to smile and nod. It's actually gotten me through the process thus far. I'm 35, I'm a grown woman and in similar situations I am taken seriously and can hold my own. In fact, I am often praised for my work and ideas. It is so very alien to have someone smirk or make snide comments or such when I am working with other people. Unfathomable and so very unprofessional.
And to top it all off, this is a person who has been the receiver of many a generous loan in the form of costumes--over many years--and yet begrudges a loan on her part of 1 simple item. How can you compare the lending of thousands of dollars worth of goods over the loan of something that costs less than $50? Petty. Childish. Selfish.
These are things I hope not to become. I believe you learn something from every person you meet and interact with. This experience has taught me that I need to watch my behavior so I can continue to make and keep friends and that I cannot let small disappointments turn me bitter or petty. That smile and nod may sometimes be false, but the more you smile the more you are able to keep smiling and mean it.
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