Is it just where I live or are you running into really grumpy people this holiday season?

They’re such a nuisance, trying to scrape what’s left of them off the tyres!

I can’t think of one person I’ve been around who’s been grumpy. It’s like all the store clerks in East Tx have been told they had better be nice or their job will be at risk. And 100% of them are nice, smiling and say , “thank you and Merry Christmas!” Grocery store, book store, drugstore, all of them super nice. And at the grocery store, a lady was playing Christmas carols on her VIOLIN at the door w/a Salvation Army bucket behind her while inside they had beautiful Christmas music playing over the speakers. I don’t know if that’s legal or not !

There are always grumpy people where I live, so when the holidays come, it only gets worse.

Nope.

I have only encountered one grouchy woman who got pissy about a long line.

I don’t accept others negativity and play into it, infact, I am just the opposite, have a way with engaging folks that brings out the best in them!

Last week I initiated an entire line of about 15 people into a bunch of humorous and fun bantering while we all waited.

Kill ‘em with kindness, and humor… works every time!

No,I haven’t run into it at all :)

For the most part no one has been grumpy, but I have not done a lot of holiday shopping. I’ll be out in the mix today, I’ll let you know how it goes. Oh, my husband is a little bit of a scrooge, I find it annoying. I think he constantly compares Christmas to childhood Christmas and is always dissappointed.

So far the only grumpy person I’ve encountered this season is my neighbor (who used to be really nice, but has changed drastically lately). Some new neighbors moved in across the street. When I saw the first neighbor, I asked her if she’d met them yet. She said no and told me that she had no interest in all the comings and goings and chit chat in the neighborhood and then she grumped off. Not sure what to make of it. The new neighbors invited us over to see how their moving in progress was coming along (they were re-painting), to meet their cats and to give us some cookies.

Most of the store clerks have been pretty nice, but then I always make a point of being nice and saying hello to them. Especially the ones who don’t look up in the first place or say hello or may I help you (even though it bums me out). I always jump right in and say, “Hi how are you today! Looks like it’s been pretty busy today, huh? Hope you don’t have to work too late today. ” It always seems to shock them back into the “nice” mode.

I’ve got great relatives too, no grumps or scrooges amongst them.

@Kardamom

Yep, some people just need a to reminded that a little levity exists, WAKE UP!....lol

I’m afraid so. I refer you to this question, which will explain why:

http://www.fluther.com/107178/is-it-possible-to-be-genuinely-mentally-unstable-and-coldly-calculating/

The person in question has managed to completely kill the holiday spirit at my workplace and has left everyone either angry, upset, frustrated or grouchy. She got my boss really stressed out and in turn he was very short and pissy with me for the past week or so. She even tried to convince all of us to agree to call off the firm luncheon because she “just couldn’t deal with it.” We still held it, but all the fun was sucked out of it. Now that I’m on break until after Christmas, I’m trying to regain my spirit by baking, finishing up shopping, listening to holiday music, etc. It’s working, but I was really looking forward to Christmas until she crapped all over everyone’s mood and it’s been hard to get back in the mood. Our poor receptionist got stuck at the office yesterday (our last work day before Christmas) until 6 p.m. fixing her stupid mistakes and had to wait for the late train, getting home hours later than normal. :(

My SO is out having dinner with his co-workers and I’m baking ginger snaps. When he gets here and I can have some time with him (I work days, he works nights and we don’t get much time together) I will feel a lot happier.

@diavolobella Yikes! I can’t believe that someone from Human Resources hasn’t called this person into their office to either suggest that they get help or to fire them. Is there someone higher up the food chain that can be told about this person and how much trouble they cause for the rest of you? Could someone outside of the company call the boss anonymously and let them know what is going on? This kind of seems like a “hostile workplace” for all of the rest of you. I wonder if someone (you maybe) would be willing to see if a lawyer would talk to you pro bono about this situation. It sounds un-bearable.

Please try to enjoy your time off and cook up a storm. I can smell the gingerbread from here.

@Kardamom I don’t want to hijack this thread, so I’ll make this the short answer. There is no higher up. My boss is THE boss. There are five partners and he’s the senior one. There is no HR Department except her, since she’s the Office Manager. They’ve decided they are going to let her do this, so there is nothing to do but tolerate it. Talking to a lawyer wouldn’t work – this is a law firm that I work at, after all – and it’s a lose-lose situation if I tried to file a complaint with the Dept. of Labor. I just have to decide if it’s worth putting up with for the positives about the job.

Christmas can be pretty stressful for what we’ve made of it, some people might not be able to deal with it as well as others. I know I don’t feel like it. Granted though, I don’t flip folks off or nothing.

What you describe seems common to me for several years running but that’s because I work with retail. Customers are rushed, most are going through winter sicknesses, money is running out for holiday shopping, vacation plans get crushed, people fight each other for days off, drivers assume pedestrians should understand parking spots are at a premium and to “get the f**k out of the way” (to be considerate to the harried drivers~), people are working overtime against their preference, their covering shifts and depts. not their norm, blah blah.

Yesterday I cringed to have to walk into my bank and then park and walk into an Old Navy store. The luxury of speedy free shipping, free boxes, merchandise not yet molested beyond desirability, all to my doorstep while I’m at work or sleeping- online shopping has spoiled me.