I also work in a service industry. Anyone who has read "House of God" knows that dealing with people can be difficult, and often times we service providers develop "abnormal" or "insensitive" defense mechanisms.

The problem is not with these defenses - else we'd go crazy - but in blatantly flaunting them before those being served. This crosses the line from a method of dealing with stress to significantly damaging the relationships we count on for our jobs.