Raise your hand if you've ever encountered an asshole. Now raise your hand if you've ever been an asshole. Lots of hands. Because there are lots of assholes. I, myself, am a recovering asshole.

Most of us are only assholes some of the time. When the situation warrants. (I can't think of a good one right now, but I'm sure there are a few.) Then there are those guys who are assholes all the time. It's part of their nature. They are Assholes.

A couple of days ago I posted "Why I Am Glad I No Longer Work in Retail", which talked about abuse of retail employees around the holidays. (Which is like the Super Bowl of Assholedom.) After, a reader sent me a link to a post on Guy Kawasaki's blog, How to Change the World, where he reviews a book by Robert Sutton titled The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. It's a business book, but Kawasaki also describes it as "the definitive guide to understanding, counteracting, and not becoming an asshole." And I'm all for that.

I haven't read the book, but I love the metric Kawasaki cites for recognizing an asshole. It's called the Starbucks Test. And it states that the more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If a guy walks into a Starbucks and orders a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," he's a huge asshole. (And I have newfound respect for Starbucks employees. How they get through a day of taking those orders without laughing in the customer's face is remarkable.)

Another test is Sutton's dirty-dozen list of everyday asshole actions:
1. Personal insults
2. Invading one's personal territory
3. Uninvited personal contact
4. Threats and intimidation, both verbal and non-verbal
5. Sarcastic jokes and teasing used as insult delivery systems
6. Withering email flames
7. Status slaps intended to humiliate their victims
8. Public shaming or status degradation rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they are invisible

Kawasaki also includes in his post a top-ten list that summarizes how to avoid being an asshole. Read it. Please. I'm thinking of taking a job at Starbucks.