Unintentionally rude?
I feel terrible!
I went to buy a coffee grinder today and eventually had to ask a store clerk for help because I didn’t find them. I said I was looking for a specific one but since there were a couple of others available, he told me a little bit about them. At one point he used the word “user interface” describing the different knobs and dials on the appliances. I chuckled (because computers and things are near and dear to my heart and any nerd reference is delightful) and asked what OS they used. While I chuckled I actually was thinking “wow, what a clever use of vocabulary!” but later I thought I probably came across rude. I hope they thought nothing of it.
Another time, when I was shopping for accessories at the Nokia Flagship, they had a “buy 3 get 1 free” deal and I was trying to decide which ones to get. The sales person suggested a cover for my Lumia 920. I said “tsk, tsk,” (god, I may’ve even shaken my finger…) “the phone is unbreakable, isn’t it?” I of course didn’t say it seriously (probably gave a big smile) but who knows what they thought.
I don’t think I’m a malicious person. I’ve actually been told I’m one of the most sincerelly kind (as opposed to only superficially) people — sometimes to a fault. So, where does this snideness come from!? (A widely shared sense of humour at the work place and a couple of running jokes maybe; I constantly make fun of Apple without thinking.)
How do I stop?