Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been many reports of conflicts arising over face mask mandates in supermarkets and other public-facing businesses. But as Russ Turner, director of the People Incorporated Training Institute, points out, much of that focus on the negative can be chalked up to human nature.

His organization, based in the Twin Cities, offers a curriculum of training classes and workshops in a wide variety of subjects related to behavioral health including crisis de-escalation.

Turner and People Incorporated have provided hundreds of de-escalation and other kinds of training with individuals and organizations such as mental health professionals, the Minneapolis Police Department, Department of Housing, Animal Control and others.

“When one video of a conflict goes viral, we have to remind ourselves, that’s one video in a much bigger universe. That is one video of one event in a very, very large country at one point in time,” he told SN in our latest Off the Shelf podcast. “If you have 10 encounters with customers a day and nine are great, but one is bad, your brain still focuses on the negative response, which is an unfortunate tendency.”