Keeping spare socks at work is an excellent suggestion. In addition to ameliorating a future disaster, keeping spare socks at work will afford you an opportunity to create a whole new ritual out of whole cloth! Now there will be a proper way to maintain and store the socks in or about your office, whereas before there was only a void.
Today’s tip offers a systematic method for quickly sizing up the temperament of an individual so that you can best know how to deal with their shortcomings in the event that they are not Melancholy.
Ad Hoc Temperament Assessment
We shall use as an example an encounter with a cashier whom you do not recognize. You may extrapolate the underlying principles in this example to ad hoc assessments in general. Keep in mind that there can always be local abberations. Even a Phleg might do something in a sensible way at rare times. You must make an wholistic assessment, taking care not to jump to conclusions prematurely.
Begin your observations while standing in line. Cholerics and Melancholies are task-oriented temperaments while Sanguines and Phlegmatics are people-oriented. If the clerk is executing his tasks efficiently then he is likely a Mel or Chol. If he is paying more attention either to himself or to the customer, then he is likely San or Phleg respectively. Guard against rash judgments! A Melancholy clerk is entirely capable of executing his check-out tasks efficiently and attending the customer simultaneously. Look beyond the surface to what seems to underly the clerk’s methods. For the Melancholy, dealing with people is merely another task.
If the clerk seems task-oriented, processing the items with great efficiency, then you likely have it narrowed down to two. Whether he is Mel or Chol, his register will be beeping fast and steady. Look closer and observe the manner in which he is handling the items. Cholerics are the egg-breakers and bread-mashers of the world. Incapable of viewing a task from a “big picture” angle, the Chol is satisfied that his job is done with a particular customer when the next one steps up. Thus, he hurries carelessly, not systematically the way we do. You will see the Melancholy clerk reaching just a bit extra in order to pull like items together. You will see the Choleric clerk yanking at whatever is first in line.
If the clerk is moving like a seven-year-itch and engaging in annoying (to you) banter with the customer, then he is likely a Sanguine or Phleg. It is easy to tell the difference. If he is showing off, laughing at his own jokes, and fancies himself the center of the store’s attention, then he is a Sanguine. If he is smiling sweetly, reacting sympathetically (not empathetically!) with the customer, and gets lost in what he is doing from time to time, then he is a Phlegmatic.
When you have arrived at the register, you will have enough under your belt to make a reasonable guess. But it will be advisable to wait until the clerk’s greeting before playing your hand. If the clerk greets you with a weary cliché, but with the sort of tone that he assumes you are hearing it for the first time, and if the manner in which it is delivered is perky and confident, then he is a Sanguine who is letting you know that, at last, your ship has come in, and you have earned a moment to bask in his presence. If he never looks up from his register and greets you with a short, meaningless quip or gesture (or nothing at all), and immediately begins heaving your items across the scanner and toward the rear of his station, then he is a Choleric. If he is still saying his goodbyes to the customer in front of you while your ice-cream melts on the conveyor belt, and then finally turns around, looks you over thoroughly, smiles wide, and greets you in a manner that you find too familiar and personal, then he is a Phleg. If he executes first the task of greeting you in a professional manner, and then immediately begins to process your items in the most sensible and efficient way, then, of course, he is a Melancholy.
I have found in my experience that there is no use in fighting against whatever it is that you encounter. By responding appropriately, you can get through your ordeal in the most efficient manner possible.
If your clerk is Sanguine, laugh at his every joke. Show a sparkle in your eye. Don’t hold back your delight at this marvelous opportunity to be serviced by him. Banter with him, as you are surely swifter witted than he and can keep up with him easily. Toss out clichés with wild abandon. Ask probing questions about him. He will delight in answering them. Tell him how handsome or athletic or bright or spectacular he is. You will quickly become his favorite customer. As a people oriented temperament, he will remember you the next time you come in, and will even do you favors, such as opening a register to check your items if he is idle. He will do this because he knows that you will feed his ego. And heaven knows that his ego is one hungry beast.
If your clerk is Choleric, stand ready to intercept any delicate items. Have your checkbook prepared to sign because the affair will be over rather quickly. Say nothing. He doesn’t care what you have to say, and will not remember it when you are gone.
If your clerk is Phlegmatic, please do not yield to temptation and boil over from exasperation. Instead, assist him. Go ahead and grab an item or two and move them toward the scanner. His instinct will move him into going through certain motions upon certain cues, but his main interest is you. Tell him a sad story about your pet fish (make one up if necessary). Don’t expect his responses to make any sense. Phlegs are the wanderers, the intellectual nomads, the kings of the non sequitur. Just stay mindful of the fact that you must assist in getting your items from the conveyor belt to the bag unless you want to be there forever. Don’t bother making yourself memorable as you would with a Sanguine. The Phleg is people-oriented, but that just means people in general. He will tell the same story about his Aunt Martha each and every time you come in. He has also told it to everyone else.
If your clerk is a Melancholy, then simply be yourself. You are his task, and he is yours. Truly, it is a beautiful thing.
