Some people shouldn't talk.

I'm being bombarded with stupid today.

There are days when you are a moron and there are the other days where everyone else is a moron. Today would be the latter.

And it's not just stupidity. It's rude stupidity. I have little to no patience for either.

You get a lot of both when you work in a customer service position.

Some people are really good at taking a customer's/client's crap (whether it is deserved or not), smiling through the whole thing and then saying, "I'll get right on that. Thank you!" I, however, am not one of these people.

Like anyone, I have a tolerance level. It is relatively high for children (who don't know better), older (confused) folks, woodland creatures and anyone who is going through a rough spot. For everyone else, I will only take so many passive aggressive comments, back-handed compliments and generally snide remarks until I whip out the 2-liter.

And why is it that this tends to accumulate in one single, specific day?

I remember a day when I was still living in the Netherlands and it seemed like the country was conspiring against me. My breaking point was when I went to the bike shop to get a new key for my lock (which I had lost that morning, of course)...

Me: Hi. I'm sorry, I don't speak Dutch. Do you speak English?
Dutch Bike Twit: Yeah [eye roll].
Me: Oh, great, thanks. Well, I need a new key for my bike lock.
DBT: Do you have the papers?
Me: What papers?
DBT: The papers. Do you have them?
Me: I don't know which papers you mean.
DBT: [heavy sigh and exaggerated eye roll] Go across the street.
Me: What?
DBT: We don't do that here.
Me: I can't get a key for my bike lock here?
DBT: Go to the shoe store.
Me: What?
DBT: Go across the street to the shoe store.
Me: Why?
DBT: [even bigger sigh and eye roll] To get a key. We don't do that here.
Me: Oh, um, okay. Thanks.
DBT: And you came in the wrong door. Go out that door.

I'm pretty sure I had a nonstop stream of profanity coming out of my mouth from the shoe store all the way back to the house. The whole day was like that. I was cursing tulips, cheese and clogs for the rest of the day. (It turns out, you can get keys copied at the shoe repair store. Silly American!)

Don't get me wrong, the Dutch as a whole are a lovely people (although they get really uppity about exact change), but that day was not one of Holland's finest.

In conclusion, don't be rude to waiters, receptionists or nurses. It's not nice and it will come back to haunt you.