A Friday afternoon rant

The BBQ Pit
1

yes I realize I rant about my job quite a bit but today was especially bad. If you don’t like me , or tend to think my Pit Threads are whiny little so-n-so’s don’t read it. All others…you’ve been warned.–IDBB

That’s IT! I"VE HAD IT! Up to here! I am SICK AND TIRED of it!OG SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

Ok…well…what am I sick and tired of, you’re wondering? Let me count the ways.

1)People who wad up their cash into little balls and then expect ME to unwad it, straighten it out and count it. I hate that more than anything. It’s so stupid. I was taught to keep my cash neatly folded in my wallet, not crumpled up in my pocket like a moron.

2)Kids (esp teenageers!) who hand me a sheaf of bills and have NO clue how much money they’ve actually given me. They could’ve given me $15 in ones for a six dollar transaction for all I know. If I didn’t count it, I wouldn’t give them the correct change, that’s for sure. Can’t you people COUNT? It’s not that hard. Geeze.

3)Kids under the age of 10 with their own damn credit cards…or those with Mommy and Daddy’s cards. I am to the point where I don’t give a shit WHOSE name is on the card, so long as somebody signs it. Yes I know I"m supposed to check ID but I DON"T CARE anymore. Fuck you if you can’t keep up with your own card, or give it to your stupid pre-teenage mini-whore of a daughter to go spend on more whorish clothes at LTD Too and overpriced teddies at Build a Bear.

4)Moms with screaming babies who refuse to shut them up. Yes…I realize this is a constant rant for me but only because it bothers me so damned much. C’mon mom…give the kid a tit or a pacifier or a bottle or a zwieback cookie or SOMETHING. I couldn’t care less what you stick in the kid’s mouth so they’ll SHUT UP!

5)Non-English speaking people–LEARN TO FUCKING SPEAK ENGLISH! I do not speak Spanish, Farsi or any other foreign language. Therefore it shouldn’t be up to ME to try and decipher what you want through mime and half-grunted semi-intelligible English. For fuck’s sake…you came to this country, so learn the damn language already.

6)Parents who try to ‘let Johnny order for himself’–Unless the kid is at least 12 or 13 and can figure out what he/she wants in less time than it takes to knit a cableknit sweater, this is a BAAAAAAAAAAD idea. I hate having to bend over, with my boobs in a kid’s face trying to decipher what they want. And I hate parents who stand there and go “Johnny do you want X? Do you want X or Y? Tell me…tell me, okie sweetie?” over and over and over again. It takes FOREVER to order this way and only pisses me off. Figure out what the kid wants before you get to the counter, morons. Don’t waste my time and other customers’ time because of you wanting your kids to have the ‘full grownup experience’(as one parent put it to me).

What number am I on? Seven? Ok. Seven.

7)People who wait till the last possible minute to add/remove something from their sandwich and/or their order. The sandwich bit isn’t too bad…at least I can go back to the kitchen and make them sort of understand what I want. When you decide you don’t want something after I’ve already taken your money a nd printed the receipt…you piss me off. I have to go find a shift mgr to do a recall so I can correct it and give you back any change you might get. This takes time and is as annoying as fuck.
I only had a four hour shift today but I ended up dealing with all of the above, as I do on a daily basis. No wonder this job is driving me insane.>_< And to top it off, after I got off, I ordered a BLT, extra L and T, no mayo add BBQ sauce and what do I get? A Bacon Cheddar Burger Toaster sans onion ring and pickles. Tasty, but not what I ordered. The kitchen must have put the wrong ticket with the wrong bag or the wrong sandwich with the wrong ticket or something. Next time I’ll check my sandwich before I leave so I can get the right thing. I didn’t discover the mixup until I got home so it was too late to go back and I just ate it anyway.

IDBB

2

Oof. Number One is a real peeve of mine as well. How long does it take to flatten out a dollar bill? Sheesh.

3

I know…I get this all the time and it really really bugs me because if a bill is even partially sticking up out of the little slot where it goes in the till, there is the possibility it will get stuck in the register, never to be seen again. Also, my boss really really hates crumpled up bills and goes nitro on my ass every time there is one in my till. :frowning:

IDBB

4

[rants]
5 is the one that pisses me off a lot… right now in the UK we’re getting an increasing number of telephone workers whose english is so bad that i give up. i’m not talking like bad as in trying to talk to the guy at the local kebab house. that’s fairly easy as mostly their english is quite good. i’m talking bad as in not being able to understand you either. not a word that you say apart from ‘yes’ or ‘no’. i personally think it’s unacceptable. i know someone’s gonna come back and bitch at me being racist or something, but lemme explain. if i moved to say… India, or mainland China, or Japan, or any fucking non-english-speaking country in the whole world, i would learn the language first, cos i just think it’s beyond unfair to expect the ordinary people to understand what the fuck you’re saying! and the reverse goes for here too…

5

:stuck_out_tongue: I’m not laughing at you, just at the situation. You work there, and you still got screwed on what you ordered? Priceless, just priceless. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

Someone’s gonna get flaaa-aaamed…

You done did it now.

:smiley:

7

Oh boy. Working in a fast food place eh? I’ve been working at a fast food/restaurant joint for only a month and I have enough stories to write a book.

Take today, for instance.

This old grumpy guy comes up to us.

“Egg Roll” He grunts.

Now, we’re not a chinese restaurant, but the manager/owner is Chinese, as is 98% of the employees there, so there are some Asian styled food incorporated in there. So, when this guy grunts out “Egg roll” I’m inclined to ask him whether he’d like our veggie or pork egg rolls.

He gets angry. “NO! NO!”

I get confused. “You wanted an egg roll sir?” I politely ask, because, after all, it is becoming quite loud with all the people chewing and talking at the same time in this place.

“Yes. Egg roll.”

There, I heard it right. He distinctly said “Egg roll.”

“Would you like the veggie or the pork kind, sir?”

“I don’t want none of that!”

At this point, I’m :confused:

A more experienced co-worker, seeing that this guy is trouble steps in and tries to save me.

“Sir, we have two kinds of egg rolls. There is a veggie and a pork kind. If you want an egg roll, there is a choice between the two of them. Which kind would you like?” She says, in a less patient tone than me, but it’s okay for her because she’s worked there for so long she doesn’t give a rat’s ass how she treats the customers anymore.

“I don’t want none of that!” He roars.

“I’m sorry sir, but the veggie and pork egg rolls are the only kinds of egg rolls we have.” Co-worker says, thinking maybe he wanted beef or chicken.

“Just give me an egg roll.” He refuses to move despite the fact that we obviously can’t communicate and there are people lined up behind him now and are tapping their foot impatiently while he continues to waste our time.

So, there’s not much we can do. “EGG ROLL!! EGG ROLL!!!” He screams at us. Co-worker and I just stand there and look at each other. We were trying to do that “We’re confused about what you want and will look at each other, confused, hoping that you’ll eventually give up and go away” bit.

Finally, he decides to explain what he wants. And it was only after he yelled and stomped his feet like a three year old throwing a tantrum. :rolleyes:

Turns out, what he called an egg roll was actually a fried egg sandwich. Seriously, who calls a fried egg sandwich and egg roll? WHO?!?! I mean, I work in a place where lots of tourists come by and order, but this guy had no visible foreign accent. He was either American or Canadian. Never in my life have I heard anyone refer to a fried egg sandwich as an egg roll. And I live 50km from the border, so I visit the states quite often and I have never heard them call a fried egg sandwich and egg roll either.

Maybe it’s just this old fart who tries to confuse us, and then get angry that he called something which was a fried egg sandwich something entirely different.

What makes it all worse is that I had already been having the shittest week. While he was standing there, repeating the wrong thing over and over again, I just wanted to reach over the counter, dig into his chest, rip his heart out and stuff it in his mouth. “HERE’S YOUR FUCKING EGG ROLL!!!” I would have shouted if I had done that.

But, of course, I need money and didn’t want to get sacked, so I stood there clenching and unclenching my fists as this moron doesn’t know what he’s ordering and tries to blame it on us.

Sorry if I ranted a little here myself.

Carry on. Carry on.

8

7Up–I know what you mean. We get that all the time. And WTF is up with ordering a burger with all the trimmings without a bun?

Bibliocat–I kinda laughed at the irony of it. I work there and I can’t even get what I ordered.

Plankspanker–I totally agree. They made the choice to move to this country. Nobody twisted their arms and made them do it. The least they could do is learn to speak the language like the rest of us. :rolleyes: I am sick of not being able to communicate with about half the customers because I don’t speak Spanish (or in some cases Farsi or Arabic…we gots lots of them around here too it seems like). It pisses me off no end. This is AMERICA…not Mexico, not Latin America, not the Middle East or China or any other country. In AMERICA we speak English. Granted it may not be the King’s English (as in Plankspanker’s native land) but it’s English. LEARN IT! USE IT!:mad:

IDBB

9

I agree that numbers 1-7 are ridiculous, but IDBB?? Sweetie???

There’s only ONE way to insure that what you’re ranting about stops happening.

Get an education and get a different type of career. And yes, there’re ways to do it, EVEN if you don’t “have the money for college” etc etc etc ad nauseum. As I’ve explained before, I was VERY similar to you (regarding fear of failure etc) when I was your age, and believe me, I’m not special, if I can do it, ANY OLE joe schmoe can.

THAT’S why “some of us” get a wee bit “tired” of your rants, not because they aren’t legitimate gripes regarding idiot customers, but because you, and ONLY you can do anything about your situation.

And that doesn’t mean that we (those of us who’ve pointed this out and made suggestions as to HOW you can fix it), don’t “like” you either.

It’s just kind of like someone standing there yelling “UGH, UGH, there’s a spider on me, HELP, I hate spiders, they’re creepy, and disgusting and they BITE”!!!

The point is, yes, spiders are INDEED creepy and disgusting and they do bite. But you can “GET THEM OFF OF YOU”!!! It’s all up to you.

Good luck!!

10

CanvasShoes–I am working on that. Not sure what will come of it, but I am working on it. :slight_smile:

IDBB

11

You are huh? Well, that’s a pleasant suprise. Last we heard, the husband “wouldn’t let you”.

I honestly hope you do go to school because you’ll be much happier. And I’m suprised that disclaimer has kept the Offenderati at bay. When I dared to suggest that if someone doesn’t speak any English whatsoever they not be in a customer service position, I was called a bigot and everything between.

:confused:

12

Keep holding your breath for the “Offederati” :rolleyes: to show up. No reeeeeeeeeally, HOLD. YOUR. BREATH.

It’s amazing how much more you snivel and whine than those who take issue with you. You’re both (Lez and IDBB) assholes. You’re both bigots. You’re both idiots.

Some of us have given up expecting anything more. So like I said, if you are waiting for an argument against asshole commends made by the OP - HOLD. YOUR. BREATH.

Please.

13

Wow Diane.

That was pretty uncalled for. You make a post that has nothing to do with the thread itself, for the sole purpose of throwing out random personal insults at myself and IDBB.

This is a very large message board, I’d think the two of us could both post here without seeking eachother out for little catfights, don’t you?

14

You’re right, my post didn’t have anything to do with the OP, but it certainly had everything to do with your contribution to this thread.

The thing is, is that I am sooooooooooooooooooooo fucking tired of seeing you pop into every thread where someone has made an assholish comment and mouth off with your “Nanny nanny boooooooooo booooooooo, the Offederati is gonna be along soon to spaaaaaaaaaaaaank you because you said something naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaughty”.

It’s getting old.

15

Actually, I usually post in response to the Offenderati’s whining, I seldom pre-empt it.

If your intentions are truly to convey to me in a constructive manner your displeasure about something I’ve done, I’d humbly suggest backing off of the over the top, plain nasty personal attacks. Frankly, I’m tired of your snide little drivebys in every damn thread. You seldom have anything constructive to add, you prefer to just drop off a few personal attacks and be on your merry little way. It’s petty, imature, and does nothing to help your position.

The fact that you even think I’m going to remotely care about what someone who calls me a bigot thinks about me or my posts is funny, to say the least.

16

I’m so tired of this “well I would learn the language first before I moved to wherever.” No. You. Wouldn’t. Not if you emigrated due to economic or political circumstances like most of these people did instead of because you had the luxury to move where you wanted… And since you’re not going to move, it’s pretty easy to say you’d master some totally foreign tongue if you have no intention of ever doing any such thing. Do you actually have any idea how ridiculously difficult English is? Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get very far in any language without an opportunity to speak it with native speakers? I guess you probably don’t.

17

Exactly Space Vampire -

A couple of years ago I took my three kids on a five week hike throughout Europe. We spent a lot of time in Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Luxemburg, and Brussels (met some wonderful Euro-Dopers along the way).

The locals certainly had no idea whether or not we had lived there for a long time, recently moved there, or if we were tourists, especially the locals who lived in my dad’s small, non-touristy Germany town where I frequently shopped in the little stores. They obviously knew we were Americans and it was very clear we didn’t speak more than one or two few words of their language (we learned the basics as we travelled).

Thank the good lord Jeeeebus Sasquatch that each and every single person we ran across, without exception, was patient and understanding and took the time and effort to communicate with us in spite of language barriers.

Too bad some of us 'mericans lack understanding and acceptance of other cultures.

You sure have a funny way of showing how you don’t care, but whateva’. I still think you are a bigot.

18

IDBB, these are your customers, they pay your salary. I can understand getting annoyed when the employees don’t speak English but, you go too far when you start dogging the customers.

I’ve been to Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria. I didn’t speak the language in any of the countries. Not once was anyone behind the counter difficult. Everyone went out of their way to accommodate my stupid non-language speaking ass, and I expect that you can do the same.

God forbid that you ever find yourself in a country where you don’t understand the language. Imagine being illiterate. That’s just what it’s like. You need to count on the good graces of strangers for even the most basic human needs. You need to have people write down the final price of stuff because you can’t understand when they give you totals, you can never figure out where the bathrooms are, and half the time you don’t know what you’re eating.

You really need to get out of your house on occasion.

19

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, Diane, however misguided it is.

20

lezlers, you seem to spend an inordinate amount of time looking for the Offenderati these days.
You really do.