got yelled at

I'm terrible at dealing with confrontation. Whenever I feel a strong emotion - any strong emotion - I have one reaction, every time: I cry. It makes me feel like I'm five, and sometimes I just can't hold it back.

It's the most embarrassing when it happens at work. And it has happened. When I was working at the child care center of a women's gym, I got screamed at by one of the mothers and told that I should be fired. I had to step in the bathroom. I second-grader I tutored for the first time wailed at me and told me that I'll never be a good teacher and that I was a failure at life (seriously). Those were in high school. But I knew that it wasn't beyond me to break down in tears in the workplace, now, late in my twenties.

So when a customer at Starbucks totally lost it and screamed at me today, I am proud to say that, although my voice quivered a little when I took the next customer's order, I held back the tears. Thank goodness for those hats, too - it makes it a little worse when people can see and react to my face when I get upset. It's kinda like that kid who falls down and would otherwise be fine, except he starts crying only when people around him get all "Aww are you okay??" I think it's like that.

Anyway, my coworkers supported me ("She's new," the girl at the next register said as she put her hands on both my shoulders.) and I got past it.