Enough to make a grown woman cry
Starting to cry in the bank this morning and getting better customer service as a direct result has got me thinking. Is it ever okay for a person to cry to get what they want? Is it as desperately manipulative as it sounds, or is it just being honest with the world?
I've never done it deliberately, but a tiny, guilty part of me has thought about it once or twice.
If a woman cries in public, she's branded as neurotic. Surely she's just being honest with the world and not doing as we all do so much of the time, which is to suppress our feelings till we can go home and vent.
I'm not suggesting that hundreds of women run around balling their eyes out at the slightest upset, but is there a guilty little part of us all that would not stifle a little tear if it were to get us treated better? Is crying just a tool in our repertoire of skills we develop for meeting our needs?
I'm not talking crocodile tears; not a complete fake display of emotion in order to get sympathy. I mean just not stopping yourself from crying when you genuinely feel upset or angry. If it works, why not?
No one should have to show they're massively upset to get fair treatment anyway, I know that. But we live in a world where we barely look twice at each other, but we can show compassion where compassion's due. Whether it be good customer service in a bank, or being treated properly at work, we shouldn't need to cry to make our feelings felt, but from time to time, is it such a bad thing?
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Laura Yates - Brummie mum Laura Yates is a 27 year old mother of two from Kings Heath. She gives her take on family life in the city.
I have been on the receiving on end of poor customer service on more than one occasion, to the point where it has become one of my pet hates!!! I remember distinctly having tremendously bad customer service from a large energy company where i was left without heating and electric for three days in the middle of winter and it wasn't till I CRIED that an engineer came out (only half an hour) to rectify the problem!!! Why does it take tears for people to do what we require of them when they were perfectly capable of doing it in the first place?
That's what I'm talking about! WHY?? It really, REALLY shouldn't be necessary.
I'm planning to just cry at the beginning of all discussions to make sure everything is dealt with correctly at the outset. Might set the womens' movement back a decade or two, but at least I'd save a few hundred man hours per year not having to argue my case to get decent customer service.