How We Affect Our Surroundings

Photo by Jazmin Quaynor on Unsplash

Let's say that you have already had a bad day and you haven't even had your coffee yet.  The baby spit up on you or the dog left a present on your carpet. Yuck!  So you are at your neighborhood cafe waiting 15 mins to order. This means you will just squeak into work on time, so long as your drink is finished in 5 minutes.  The girl that took your order got it completely wrong, and now you have a regular latte when you specifically asked for soy.

Photo from Pixabay

So now you are upset.  Let's see what happens to the whole cafe when you show your anger towards the barista.  You go back to the barista who made your drink and the whole morning just slides off your back.  Not only is your drink wrong, you are now late for work.  "This is the second time this week that my drink has been made wrong!  I don't like the attitude of the barista at the till, and I want to talk to your manager!"

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

Now let's say you're the barista at the bar and you were having a good day so far.

Drink were steadily flowing out of the cafe in a timely manner and then an angry customer upsets the flow.  You run and get the manager, but now you have eight drinks to make instead of two.  The customers are giving you that "I'm going to be late" look and you decide you need more hands.  Now you are totally stressed out and need to catch up on your work.

We will now switch to one of the customers in line.  You were also having a good day until the line got held up by the infuriated customer.  Now you will have to wait longer which means you are also going to be late for work.

I made up this scenario, but it could happen to anyone.  Sometimes as customers when we get upset, we forget how our attitude will affect the people around us.  I've done this myself and wished later I've been more understanding.  So much emphasis is put on customer satisfaction that sometimes we feel that means no mistakes should be made.  Sadly, as humans, we all make mistakes.  We can't control what the other person does, but we can control ourselves.  Instead of releasing the anger onto the other person, let's think of them and the people around us, and how our words and actions will affect them.  I always hear that laughter is infectious, but so is anger. Another saying we hear all the time is "Treat people the way you want to be treated."  It might sound dumb, but it's true.

We are going to go back to when the drink was served and you realize it's made with regular milk.  If we say to the barista, "Excuse me, but my drink was made with 2% and I ordered soy.  Can you remake my drink please?" Then the drink can be remade and everyone's day and proceed forward.

This goes for everyone in the cafe too.  If we are aware of how our attitudes, words, and actions affect others, we can make a bad day good again.  Or at least okay.

Thank you for reading.  I hope you are having a good day.  Please like and share or leave a comment.

Larry's Unique Birdhouses

Back in June, I went to the St. Albert's Farmer's Market.  It was a the largest Farmer's Market I've ever seen! There were vendor tents as far as you could see.  When we turned the corner, there were more tents down the end of that street too.  It was a little overwhelming, but in all those tents, I found two vendors that I wanted to write about.  

This post is about Larry's Unique Birdhouses.

As the name says, each birdhouse is unique. No two houses are the same.  Larry likes to model his birdhouses after original historical buildings in America.  The materials are salvaged from old buildings, barns and antique shops.  They are so adorable!! I love all the details of these houses.  There was also a jail birdhouse with a little noose (check my Instagram for the picture).  I had to take a picture of the cafe since I also work in a cafe.

I love that the school house has a tire swing, and he also made an outhouse birdhouse!  These birdhouses were fun to look at, and Larry was fun to talk with as well.  

If you would like to contact Larry about his birdhouses or his market schedule, please contact him by e-mail at larrysbirdhomes@gmail.com. 

Thank you for reading, please like and share.

Barnwood Bellas

Thank you for your comments last week.  I really enjoyed reading them.  Please keep them coming!

The last vendor that I am going to write about, that I saw at Wholly Made in Sherwood Park, are the Barnwood Bellas - Rustic Home Decor.

There were other vendors at this event that sold Indoor Decor made of wood, but then I started chatting with Shannon and Afton.  They told me that some of their pieces are made from the family's 100 year old barn.  I love re-purposed art because its usefulness has not yet ended.  It served its purpose as a barn and will continue serving on a wall as an imaginative decoration.  Salvaged useful material gives me hope that even with my depression and anxiety, I will always serve a purpose.  We need to all remember this as we get older, have an accident, or struggle with a condition.  We are more than a broken down barn.

Not all the pieces are made from this wood, but wait.  There's more.  They also sell crochet bowls, rustic stools, and chicken wire frames.

If you would like more information or are interested in these items, you can visit them on www.facebook.com/barnwoodbellas.  I would highly recommend visiting their Facebook page as their pictures are bold and beautiful.

Thank you for taking time to read my little blog.  Please comment, like, and share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pintrest.