I've just spent an interesting couple of hours overhearing conversations in the waiting room of a drop in centre for the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
For those that don't know, the Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB) is a charity offering free legal and monetary advice. It's run by unpaid volunteers who are usually taking time out from their paid jobs as solicitors or other professional positions.
This CAB centre runs drop in centres on certain days where no appointment is needed, you just turn up, take a numbered ticket and wait your turn. Needless to say, waiting times can be long and if the time runs out, you have to come back another day.
When it's your turn, you are triaged to make sure that you are eligible and that they can actually help you. Then you go back to the waiting room to be called by one of the advisors.
The alternative, is to pay to see a solicitor (or whoever) at market rates of up to £200 per hour.
Despite the huge savings people are making by using the CAB, and despite the fact that it's a charity and all of the advisors are volunteers working for free, the number of complaints I heard was staggering.
One person said that they had contacted a solicitor about their problem and was told that the consultation would be £195 per hour. So, she came to the CAB instead. She was quite vocal in complaining to the other people in the waiting room about how long they had to wait, despite already telling everybody about the cost of the alternative.
Another young woman was complaining that she would probably get called for triage but would then be sent back into the waiting room to wait for an advisor and the time would run out. She kept insisting that if that happened she ought to be given preference at the next drop in centre.
Others complained that if they left the building to do shopping or get a coffee, they would be forfeiting their place.
Others came up with all kinds of suggestions regarding how the drop in centre should be run.
After a couple of hours of this I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from blurting out something like "If it's that bad, why don't you just ask for your money back!"
These drop in centres might not be run in the most efficient way possible. They might not be run in the most helpful way possible. But they are completely free, run by volunteers and they make no money. I'm the first person to get in a mood at moronic inefficiency, but I realise that the CAB isn't a business so there isn't a commercial reason for them to run the organisation in the most efficient way possible.
I have absolutely no criticisms of the way the CAB is run. I have no right to criticise. I can clearly see how the efficiency could be improved, but I don't have the right to criticise them for not doing it. If they were to ask my opinion, I'd certainly give it, and I might even give my opinion unsolicited.
But I certainly wouldn't sit in the waiting room like some spoilt, ungrateful child, moaning that the free (but very valuable) service they are providing is not good enough.
The attitude of gratitude is a clear sign of successful, happy people. Being grateful for what you do have not only makes you a happier person, but it attracts more towards you through the law of attraction (as outlined in The Secret). People prefer happier people so are more likely to do business with them, more likely to think of them, and more inclined to be generous with them.
Next time you find yourself moaning about something, whether it has cost you money or not, take a moment to think about something you should be grateful for.
