¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Hello. My name is Joe Pera and I have 40 minutes until the chicken kiev i'm eating for dinner is cooked in the oven. So in the meantime, I thought I'd see what's new on tumblr. See the snoopy icon? That's [username redacted]. We've been mutuals for 6 years. I don't know their name, but i do know they teach preschool kids and they have a cat named Checkers. Sometimes i post pictures of Gus on here. They usually get a few likes. Occasionally people even reblog his picture because they want him on their blogs, too. Can you blame them? I mean, look at his handsome face."

assume people are trying their best, want to be good and treat others well, and that when their behavior doesn’t align with those goals, it’s because of outside factors that are pushing them to their limit

i have a patron who is mean as a snake. won’t respond when you greet her, barks orders at you, and is generally nasty

i couldn’t stand her & dreaded the moment she walked in the door, until i stopped one day & went “wow, to walk around feeling unhappy enough to treat people so horribly every day. what a difficult way to live.”

and so my tactics changed. i made a point to be extra kind & friendly to her. she changed her hair color one day & when i complimented her on it, she was very caught off guard & said “oh, thank you. my whole life i’ve thought i was ugly.”

now we’re at the point where she shows me pictures of watercolor paintings she made & says hi when she walks in the door. she’s not my favorite patron, but she’s perfectly okay. most unpleasant people aren’t inherently rotten, they’re just unhappy & coping with it poorly