Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort of holding contradicting positions.

I experience it at my work. I’m a cashier, and we are always told to provide good customer service. However, we are given a stat that tracks how many items we scan per hour. The meta-language seems to be that customer service really isn’t as important as shoving people out of the door.

It also explains why people don’t like Mitt Romney. He lives both positions, and doesn’t stand for anything.