Disguised Infants

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Have you ever noticed the look on a child’s face at an ice cream store when they are told by the server that the store is out of the flavor of ice cream that they want?

They are not happy people. Some will throw a tantrum. Some may cry. Some may put a look on their face that lets you know how sad they are.

They don’t want their second choice.

No one does.

That includes you, too.

As adults, we are all disguised infants.

Underneath it all, we have many of the same feelings as we did as children.

We have been trying to mute the feelings, but they are still there.

As teenagers, we hate being rejected for a date or never called after one.

We hate to wait in line. We want to walk in.

We want the time we want for the reservation, not the one offered to us two hours later. We hang up on places that try to do that to us.

We hate being disappointed, yet do it so often to so many.

Why is that?

Why do we disappoint people?

Sometimes, it is because that person, that manager, that leader puts unrealistic expectations on us, and we don’t…