Shyness

In class the other day some students were talking about a  possible connection between shyness and bad customer service. As a shy person I felt as if I had to stick up for my kind. I’m sure that there are some shy people that are terrible at customer service but most that I know are actually quite personable on the job.  This is probably because, as I have been told continuously throughout my customer service career and even more this semester in class, the job isn’t about me.  It’s about the customer.  My real personality doesn’t matter. What matters is how easily I adapt myself to suit them.  Inside I may be nervous as all heck but outside I am smiling and trying to make sure that they are served with patience and politeness.  Sure, at first it was tough to force confidence but after a while I became a pro. 

Customer service may actually be the perfect job for shy people. We can be expert at detecting the moods of others and have wonderful listening skills.  I find for myself, that my self-consciousness keeps me constantly trying to do a better job and when I make a mistake I will rarely make it twice because I hate embarrassment.     

In the end, there is no excuse for bad customer service.  Someone either cares about what they do, or they don’t and when they don’t care it shows.  Shy people can care immensely or not at all, just like everyone else.  But if it’s any consolation, at least shy people may be a little more self-conscious about it.             

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance – Now With Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!

by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

Quirk Books, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-59474334-4

I love Pride and Prejudice and in my opinion,  re-made versions of it never quite measure up to the original.  With that in mind, I must say that I was surprised to like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  Sure, it sounds like a crazy idea but this book still mostly tells the original, complicated love story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.  The zombies are a fun addition and work their way into the novel quite well.  I was surprised at the ease with which Seth Grahame-Smith weaved zombies into the already wonderful story.  Elizabeth is still headstrong and quite believable as a skilled zombie killer.  Also, her original distain for Mister Darcy is even more fierce  in this version.  It’s still got a healthy helping of Austen’s humor in combination with Seth Grahame-Smith’s quirky additions.  Overall, reading this has taught me you that cannot top the original but you can add zombies. 

If you are interested in this type of work I may recommend its prequel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Seth Graham-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter or the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies graphic novel.

Until the Real Thing Comes Along

Until the Real Thing Comes Along

by Elizabeth Berg

Ballantine Books, 1999

ISBN: 0-345-43739-X

I don’t usually talk about myself in my blog posts but for some reason I think it may be important this time. Or maybe not but I’m doing it anyway. I’m at a place in my life where the idea of marriage and a family freak me out completely. Children are loud and fast and I never know what they are about to do. Shopping for friend’s baby showers can give me migraines. Those little shoes are creepy and why are diapers so expensive?! Marriage makes me just as uncomfortable and luckily my boyfriend and I have agreed to opt out.

That said, Until the Real Thing Comes Along is about a woman in her mid thirties who is desperate to get married and have babies. Lots of babies. She thinks about marriage and babies all the time. And I loved this book!

This story is about Patty who, as previously mentioned, has always wanted to get married and have lots of children. She falls in love with Ethan, they get engaged and right before her life gets too perfect, she learns that Ethan is gay.  On top of that, she is still pressured by her family and friends to get married, or at least figure out a way to have a baby, father or no. Unable to fall out of love with Ethan, Patty finds that she has to settle for a less than picture perfect life.

This book is a quick and easy read. Although there were a few places when the character would talk endlessly about tiny baby feet or something and I would think, “Yuck!” reading it was pleasant. On the jacket there is a quote from the New York Daily News, “Reading it is like eavesdropping on an intimate female chat.” I think that’s what I liked the most. Because even if I don’t have the desperate desire to marry and procreate, I love listening to other people’s problems. Even  though this book was at times outrageously silly, Berg still obviously takes her subject matter seriously and even in those silly moments there is a naturalness about her storytelling that makes it endearing. My advice is, pick up this book if you want to read something adorably sweet and silly. 

*Stardust*

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

HarperCollins, 2001                                         

ISBN: 9780060934712

Stardust is about a seemingly ordinary young boy named Tristran who lives in a city of which borders a magical, faery world.  Young Tristran falls for a girl who is out of his league and promises her that he will bring back a fallen star. To retrieve the star he must crossover onto the other side of a wall and leave world he knows behind on an adventure into the mystical world beyond. Tristran soon learns that the star is no ordinary hunk of rock.  It is a woman that he must protect from an unusual band of foes.  Throughout his adventures Tristran learns the true meaning of love and belonging.     

This story is a fairy tale for adults and regardless of the sexual encounter in the beginning and a curse word or two, this could easily be an excellent choice for young adults, as well.  Gaiman’s writing is both quirky and beautiful.  There are many details and characters that will catch readers by surprise.  For example, a re-animated unicorn corpse makes an appearance in the book in what is both a grotesque and humorous scene.  Neil Gaiman’s writing is imaginative and engaging and Stardust is an excellent introduction to his work. After reading this I now know why Neil Gaiman is such a well loved and talked about writer.