help me with this question

[louie12]

i knew a person, which i used to see, probably every 3 or 4 months.we said hellow and we talked.I own an electrical supply house with my family, this person also was a customer of mine, he opened a supply house close to me and he is targeting some of my customer,and that caused some coldness between us,we are not saying hello to each other because of the tension, the quesion is, am i obliged to go out of my way and greet him when i see him(i don not mind doing that if happened to run by him face to face).

thankyou

 

[InLight247]

i knew a person, which i used to see, probably every 3 or 4 months.we said hellow and we talked.I own an electrical supply house with my family, this person also was a customer of mine, he opened a supply house close to me and he is targeting some of my customer,and that caused some coldness between us,we are not saying hello to each other because of the tension, the quesion is, am i obliged to go out of my way and greet him when i see him(i don not mind doing that if happened to run by him face to face).

thankyou

I wouldn’t say you are obliged to go out of your way. But, you can certainly be a bigger person to initiate a greeting. If the other person would not respond, or give you a cold shoulder, then you did your share. Just because you are business competitors, it does not mean you have to be enemies. And better yet, you can pray for him.

 

[brigid12]

InLight,
Going by many previous posts I’ve seen of yours, it seems that you have a fairly good relationship with The Lord. So, 1) I’d pray to Him about the question, 2) pray for your business competition and 3) go out of your way to befriend this person. It’s not required but highly recommended by numerous holy people. Who knows if that other person feels shy because of this or guilty (but not about to admit it, even to themself) because of this? It would also be a way of evangelization.

 

[InLight247]

InLight,
Going by many previous posts I’ve seen of yours, it seems that you have a fairly good relationship with The Lord. So, 1) I’d pray to Him about the question, 2) pray for your business competition and 3) go out of your way to befriend this person. It’s not required but highly recommended by numerous holy people. Who knows if that other person feels shy because of this or guilty (but not about to admit it, even to themself) because of this? It would also be a way of evangelization.

Brigid,

I am not sure if you are addressing to OP or to my response?
All you said is more or less what I said. Maybe you are pointing to my first sentence - not obliged to go out of the way? Maybe you question this base on your understanding about my previous thoughts on my other posts? If so, here is the background of my opinion.

Once I asked my spiritual director if I should keep on trying to greet some people (a parish family) who has shown no interest in greeting me. I did not know their names, they usually sit behind me on Saturday Mass, multiple times I turn around try to greet them the whole family just ignore me.

SD told me not to force it. He said if I have tried times and they do not want to respond, do not force it. When I post earlier, this is exact the background in my mind.

Anyway, thanks, Brigid!

 

[marty30]

i knew a person, which i used to see, probably every 3 or 4 months.we said hellow and we talked.I own an electrical supply house with my family, this person also was a customer of mine, he opened a supply house close to me and he is targeting some of my customer,and that caused some coldness between us,we are not saying hello to each other because of the tension, the quesion is, am i obliged to go out of my way and greet him when i see him(i don not mind doing that if happened to run by him face to face).

thankyou

What would Jesus do?

 

[brigid12]

Brigid,

I am not sure if you are addressing to OP or to my response?
All you said is more or less what I said. Maybe you are pointing to my first sentence - not obliged to go out of the way? Maybe you question this base on your understanding about my previous thoughts on my other posts? If so, here is the background of my opinion.

Once I asked my spiritual director if I should keep on trying to greet some people (a parish family) who has shown no interest in greeting me. I did not know their names, they usually sit behind me on Saturday Mass, multiple times I turn around try to greet them the whole family just ignore me.

SD told me not to force it. He said if I have tried times and they do not want to respond, do not force it. When I post earlier, this is exact the background in my mind.

Anyway, thanks, Brigid!

InLight,

I goofed about addressing the my answer to you (sorry!), however I did **mean **what I posted about your previous posts.

 

[JRKH]

i knew a person, which i used to see, probably every 3 or 4 months.we said hellow and we talked.I own an electrical supply house with my family, this person also was a customer of mine, he opened a supply house close to me and he is targeting some of my customer,and that caused some coldness between us,we are not saying hello to each other because of the tension, the quesion is, am i obliged to go out of my way and greet him when i see him(i don not mind doing that if happened to run by him face to face).

thankyou

The question is not whether you should or should not greet this person. The question should be whether you harbor any ill will toward this person. A “clenched teeth” hello means nothing. If you harbor bad feelings about this person going into competition with you I would suggest praying for forgiveness and the grace to make peace with yourself in your heart.

As for greeting the other person. I would suggest maintaining a cordial outlook toward him. Nothing more is necessary.

As far as the competition factor, work hard to satisfy your customers through quality products and service. It is very difficult for a competitor to “steal” a satisfied customer. God willing, there will be enough business for both of you.

Peace

James

 

[cgirl4ever]

I think that you should. The bible teaches us that Christ wants us to be kind to our “enemies.” Remember that your shop does not defind you as a person

 

[JReducation]

I don’t believe that it is a spiritual requirement that you go out of your way to greet someone. However, good manners are part of justice and charity. To deny the person a polite and appropriate greeting, because you are either competitors or maybe because you have had a falling out, as we say, that would be wrong.

There is no room in the spiritual life for rudeness. Rudeness is a violation of charity and justice. God is both loving and just. Just look at the saints.

This has nothing to do with the price of eggs in China, but I’ll throw it in here as a bonus. A long time ago I worked in a parish that had a monastery of cloistered Dominican nuns within its boundaries.

The nuns rarely left the cloister. When they did, they were on their way to the doctor or to run an errand in town. Since they didn’t own a car, they walked. Their rule was very specific. They were not to speak to anyone outside of the cloister. When they walked through our small town (and this town was very small) they avoided eye-contact with people.

However, it’s very hard to ignore a nun who is dressed in the traditional Dominican habit. She stands out like a stop sign.

Some people would say hello and the nuns always responded kindly and politely. They did not go out of their way to speak to the people they met on the street, even people whom they knew, for many often attended services at the monastery or did odd jobs for the nuns. But they were always kind enough to respond to a greeting with civility and gentleness. Therein lies the difference. They always made me laugh, because they were genuine chatter boxes when you visited them in their monastery parlour. But on the street, they were like mice trying to get past the cat without being noticed.