Catching Flies

“You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”

—- American Proverb

I recently had to deal with someone who is the type to believe she is always correct. A friend ran an errand for her, depositing some checks into her bank account. Upon returning to her with the receipts, she confronted him about his tardiness in the task, stating that he waited too long in the day to place the deposit and that the checks wouldn’t go through until the next business day. Two months ago, however, the bank changed its funds availability policy so that any deposits made up until the close of business would be available the day it was submitted. My friend and I were both aware of this change, though the lady insisted that this was a major mishap on his part, refusing to hear his explanation because she *knew* it was incorrect. To solve this issue, I went to the bank myself to gather definitive proof of this new policy change and brought it to the lady who questioned it. Handing it to her saying “You were wrong” would only cause her to become defensive and irritated at me for proving that she was incorrect, so instead I posed the “proof” to her as an offer of assistance. I explained that while cashing a check around 4pm one day at that bank, I had questioned when I would receive the funds. The bank teller informed me that they had a new policy, and since I knew that she banks at this same location, I thought it would be helpful for her to be aware of the recent change. She thanked me for looking out for her, and I went on my way. Crisis averted. (The last person to cross her was fired.)

While this anecdote does not perfectly align with the meaning of the proverb, it still goes to show that it is much wiser to be polite to someone than confrontational. Even if that person is so irritating you would love the satisfaction in proving to her that she was wrong.

Situations like these come down to the question of: Would you rather make your point? Or would you rather maintain someone’s respect? You don’t get to have both, so consider the future for a moment instead of what you feel at the present. Which will help you later on when you want something to go your way, and that person is somehow involved in making it happen? She will be much more likely to help you out if you have been respectful. 

Beginning and End

My initial intention of starting a blog was to have a place to come rant about things that irked me. I realized, however, that many of the events that brought me irritation could be explained rationally by taking a step back from a situation and viewing it from a different perspective. So instead of just posting endless rants that really don’t serve much of a purpose except for ‘getting it off my chest’, I thought I could insert some reasoning into my frustrations to explain why the things that tick me off actually elicit that response from me. I believe this practice is something that most everyone can benefit from. So now this blog isn’t just about venting my frustrations, but hopefully it can inspire others to start seeing things from alternate perspectives.

Coming from an Economics background, I fully believe the simple principle “people respond to incentives” explains the majority of human behavior. If only people would take the time to consider others’ responses to their own actions, maybe people would be happier, and all sorts of things would be run more efficiently. All due to understanding one basic idea. I know there are many instances where I am wrong or ignorant on a subject, however, I just think I’m pretty good at figuring out how a rational person will respond, given a set of circumstances. This blog will provide a simple logical explanation for all sorts of my observations or personal experiences.

Being someone who begins many projects, yet finishes few of them, I enjoy the idea of having a blog. There is no true finish line, so technically, once I have made a post, I will have succeeded. So please allow this entry to mark both the start and conclusion of my blogging project. Now I feel like I’m getting somewhere :D