patience is a virtue

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, a 19 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

this publication is a place for me to reflect on productivity, health and tech, and drop unique opportunities in the space right to your inbox daily. if you’re new here, sign up to tune in! 💌 

btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: patience is a virtue 😇

one easy way to gauge another’s temperament is the manner they treat staff at restaurants or cafés.

i firmly believe that being serviced in some sort of way merits more courtesy from the receiver. after all, the other end is only human as well. mistakes are normal in the same way you’ve probably spilled a glass of water or even shattered one at a restaurant.

wait times tend to be the real way the curtain is unveiled to reveal someone’s patience. i completely understand being in a rush — i begin to tap my foot a little obnoxiously when the clock is ticking loudly as well, but i will never walk up to a waitress and yell, “i’ve been waiting for ONE WHOLE HOUR. give me my food now.” 👹

i witnessed this firsthand today, and was left in shock. i’ve never seen such impatient confrontation in my life. even when my family is left waiting, given the wrong order or been on the receiving end of terrible service, i will never yell at someone else like that.

there’s a difference between advocating for yourself and extending some courtesy. often times, a customer isn’t even aware of the full picture behind why their food maybe took 15 extra minutes. ⏰

even if you are frustrated, don’t express it into a venomous dialogue charged by hostility. you can give them feedback at the end with a level-head. patience ≠ just being complicit with negative treatment. patience is more about how well you’re able to offer grace and de-weaponize irritation.

we ordered breakfast at a hostel in dong van this morning. we ordered the same food as another table much earlier, but their food arrived 30 minutes before ours. even then, one of us still hadn’t received her food. she was extremely frustrated and complained to us, which was fine. once she started expressing her frustration beyond “is my food on the way? i’ve been waiting quite a while,” and shifted to more hostile tones towards the staff, i was taken aback.

waiting a little extra hardly merited such rudeness and it definitely wasn’t even the waiter’s fault.

once i heard, “i will never hire a vietnamese person,” as a result of her frustration, her temperament was then solidified, and i could no longer make any excuse for her behaviour.

patience is a virtue and offers not only a good impression to others of yourself but also simply a  more positive mental fortitude. 🧘‍♀️

daily opportunity + resource drops 🔍️