Pops and the ducks

There were a few things he said which I try to live by. I was reminded of one such phrase recently.

I was quoting a repair to customer A as customer B walked in. 'A' feigned a heart attack when I told him the price. He then turned to B and said that I was killing him. I jokingly told B that he could leave, that I wouldn't need his business after I was through extorting A.

Anyways, A leaves and I began to deal with B. To my delight, B being familiar with what A wanted, he first remarked, "I don't know what his problem is. That was a very good price you gave him." I thanked him. It's always nice to hear that you're actually an honest businessman. He continued, "How do you put up with that?" referring to customer's A's gyrations.

"Water off a duck's back, Pops used to say," I told him. You can't let obnoxious stuff like that bother you. Let it seep away.

I try to remember that, because customers, hell, people in general, can be hard to deal with. Myself included, quite frankly. You just have to strive not to let it bother you. That whole incident was over in about 40 seconds. Why should it bug me? Okay, arguably I am doing that, but to a purpose. I'm using the incident as an illustration. Don't let those things trouble you. Let them flow off like water from a duck's back.

I don't think it a bad way to conduct yourself at all.