The other day I visited a Nike shoes sweat shop in China Town, and one of the 5 year olds making my shoes for 50 cents an hour kind of didn’t say “hi” to me. He just nodded his head in my direction! Plus, it didn’t seem like he wanted to be there. What a LOSER!!! I hope he gets fired and the KKK burns down his house and murders his family.
If he wants that $8 a day he damn well better give me a verbal greeting! That bastard.
Anyway, I took my new shoes (which feel like heaven) and walked down to a nearby whore house. And I paid the hooker 5 dollars and I think that maybe she was <gasp> FAKING and orgasm. The nerve! I hope her pimp beats her to death.
wow, you people are sure passionate about your pizza.
As a veteran of some twenty-five years of retail, I, like Myrr21, have rarely failed to give the friendliest service possible. Yeah, I get my share of assholes, but honestly people: Haven’t any of you who disagree with the OP had a snothole server in any capacity? Have any of you picked up a magazine from a rack with the intent to buy it, only to put it back and grab another one because the first one had a wrinkled/torn cover? Isn’t it reasonable to get what you want without getting the shit treatment?
I’ve received shitty service and I’ve gotten shitty customers and I don’t understand why people feel it’s okay to dump on others because they don’t feel like being nice. I wonder how people get through their days sometimes with bugs up their asses.
Smile, people. Be kind. Be patient. Stop bitching. And above all else, remember the Golden Rule.
Well, you know what behavior I consider unwanted? A moronic smile (stop that; I know you hate it here), a “how are you today?” (fuck off…like you care), and the “I’ll greet you at the door and unload your cart for you” (at the supermarket, that is). And I’m not the only one irritated by this.
So what’s a poor pizza boy to do? Do his job, that’s what. And that’s what he did. If he takes his time closing the door softly and gently setting the cutter down, so as not to offend Shane’s extraordinarily delicate sensibilities, the next guy in line gets pissed off at having to wait.
You know, I went to Subway the other day, and started getting kinda pissed off when the guy behind the counter had me repeating my (very simple) order about 80 times. Couldn’t for the life of me understand how somebody could give me such shitty service. Then I noticed the hearing aid (I have a low voice that a lot of people with hearing problems don’t pick up so well).
Give people the benefit of the goddamn doubt. If pizza-lad does what he’s asked to do quickly, and doesn’t roll his eyes or make any obvious gesture about being pissed off, then your service was fine.
You’re right; I was mistaken. I thought that a giant, bold “no, fuck you” indicated a surprised reaction to being sworn at. I see now that it simply indicates that you lack the creativity to do anything but repeat the same curse louder and louder. Five year-olds can do better than that.
Thankfully, to my experience, the above niceties are definitely appreciated by almost everyone.
I’d say that your distaste of polite small talk is a personal problem – not a problem of society-at-large.
And guess what? Many people who work those jobs DON’T hate it there! It’s not dream job #9, but cetainly not the deepest circle of hell, either. Why would you assume that someone hates such jobs by default? To my personal experience (3 years retail, 2 years fst food, 4 years in a family restaurant), most service employees are neutral towards their jobs – harboring neither undying love nor bitter hate.
So the door slamming wasn’t directed at you at all? It was his regular behavior? And maybe the people in line around you were just kind of looking at what’s going on in front of them, in idle curiousity while waiting for their turn? You know, it’s taken me years of work to realize that what goes on around me is not all about me or directed at me. I’m much less sensitive about this stuff, while not losing personal responsibility when it is really about me.
This OP actually strikes me as an Onion article–seething undertones disguised in a routine transaciton indeed.
{speaking in generalities, here, not to anyone in particular…}
This is ridiculous. I don’t care how little you are getting paid…if you work in the customer service industry, i.e. fast food, retail, etc…then your JOB is to provide good customer service. Your job is NOT to cop an attitude if you don’t like what the customer says or does. It is not that hard. You are getting paid to be NICE to the customers. I don’t care if they’re giving you fifty cents or fifty dollars an hour to do it…you took the job, you know what is required and it does not matter what you are getting paid. You should do your job to the best of your ability regardless. Clearly the pizza kid was not doing his best job.
I have worked my share of both fast-food and retail jobs and it was always my understanding that it didn’t matter what kind of day I was having or what kind of crappy thing the last customer did, my job was to be nice to the customers and make them want to come back. That includes smiling, being polite, doing your best to give them what they ask for and in general having a good attitude and at least acting like you enjoy your job.
I don’t think Shane was wrong for being mildly annoyed at this pizza kid’s attitude. I would’ve been too. And, hello? Why do people have to jump on him for posting about something that you personally would not have found post-worthy? Last I checked there were no rules against that. (Yes, I know there are ALSO no rules against jumping on someone in the pit if you disagree with their post…but you get my point.)
The ability to maintain good attitude paired with lukewarm service (even bordeline incompetent service) is far, far superior to flawless service paired with a poor attitude.
Zwaldd, that little Italian man understood the power of positive attitude instinctively.
Guinastasia, I’ve read enough of your job-related posts to know that you handle your position with class and professionalism – regardless of how you feel inside. Try to remember, however, that you are not a victim. Even if a customer tears you a new one at the register, you are not the victim – as you are in the position of moral superiority. Heck, they don’t know you personally, anyway. Just keep doing what you do, the way you’ve been doing, and you’ll be OK.
Qwertyasdfg – Bernse is not blowing smoke up your bum. You really CAN ditch the lousy job and get something better. Even something 10% better is worth the change if it adds to your personal well-being, wouldn’t you agree?
Remember, your employer is in a lot of competition for labor – and they pay only minimum wage. Lots of places pay minimum, and some of those other places that do will be a better environment for you AND will hire you.
I’ll give you a short personal example, and see if you can’t apply something similar in your situation:
I worked at a pizza-delivery chain as a order-taker (no car yet). It was boring work, and could get aggravating because of how people would act over the phone. A friend of mine (same age) worked in a store that sold school uniforms at the same time. We compared notes, and it sounded like his job had a more pleasant overall environment and that his customers were overall cooperative with him. My friend actually made a bit more money than me, even. The face-to-face customer contact at the clothing store was a big selling point to me, because it gives your good attitude a better chance to work. Anybody can get away with being a jerk when hiding behind a phone reciever, right?
So the next summer, I applied at the clothing store, got hired, and enjoyed the experience far more than the pizza place. That job became my steady gig for the next three summers.
I had to take that first step – but afterwards, the rest really fell into place. So be picky about your next job. Don’t go to the first place hiring. Ask around. Get the skinny on different places. Make job satisfaction a priority, then stick to your guns. You will win in the end.
And if you can’t make the move right now Qwertyasdfg, on the fly, right now? So be it – but affirm to yourself that you will improve your lot at the next job. Let the fact that this summer is just about over, and that your next job will be better, give you constant solace at times when you feel like mowing down the pizza place. You definitely have the power to make your own lousy situation a very temporary situation. You just need to exercise that power.
Guinastasia, I had wanted to give you the above advice at one time, though I’m not sure your straits are as dire as Qwertyasdfg’s.
That’s you – and it’s certainly your perogative to feel that way. But understannd that very, very few people feel that way – and the service industry will cater to the overwhelming majority who appreciate “common” courtesy.
At a more personal level, a savvy salesprson/cashier/waiter will read your nonverbal cues and probably leave you alone after a few remarks.
But, heck, surely a “Good afternoon” or “Hello” is not insult, right? How can courtesy offend?
I don’t view it as an insult, nor am i offended by it. I see the small talk as more of just an annoyance. It’s certainly not something that I would, say, start a pit thread over.
Yup … keep an eye on the future. You are definitely the one fashioning that future, so you really DO have to have an eye on it.
If you are that close to graduating, perhaps you can start the professional job search right now? Get a leg up, you know?
A lot of people don’t get hired out of school, though (depending on your field). I bussed and waited tables for four years after getting my bachelor’s. Will you be working K-mart for an indefinite period of time?
No one’s hiring, huh? Are there any jobs that you are suimmarily ruling out (waitressing,etc.)? Do you live in a small town?
Also – most job openings are not advertised, as a rule. This means you have to bang a lot of doors or get inside info from a buddy. Ask around and get some info – you may surprise yourself.
Understood. But for others, it IS a Pit-worthy thread. Common courtesy IS a big deal for a lot of people. Practicing simple common courtesy will open doors in your life that will remain closed to the cynical and the jaded.
And common courtesy costs nothing to practice. Talk about a free pass in life!
So what can you say? You know the expression – “Millions of people can’t be wrong”?
Yes, only mildly. When I said I hoped he gets fired, I didn’t mean that out of personal feelings. Anyone who publicly shows an attitude like that in front of customers does not belong in that job. I meant it out of logic and morality, not my personal feelings. Get it? Make more sense now?
Also, for those who keep saying there was a line behind me and other people waiting, there was no line behind me. There were only two other customers in that place, which is a rather tiny place. They were both already in there and sitting down at the counters they have set up as tables there. So, it’s not like there was a crowd or people waiting yet to order behind me. The other two had already ordered and was probably just waiting for their stuff to finish cooking. I was the only one he had to deal with at the moment.
Another thing, it’s not how he was treating ME that annoyed me. The thing that really annoys me is someone who will have no problem treating ANYONE like that with an attitude, and for some little simple request that is no big deal. It’s not that I was personally effected, it’s the thought of someone being that way in public and in a job where that kind of behavior is a no no. That’s all that this is really about. I wasn’t referring to him as a loser for the type of job he’s working, I was referring to him as a loser for his attitude. I don’t care how much someone hates his job or whatever other personal things is causing him to act like that. You do not have that type of an attitude in that type of job.
I wasn’t expecting him to sing and dance and create small talk with me, hell, I wasn’t even expecting a smile. Usually people in these type of places act neutral. I don’t have a problem with that. It’s the bed attitude that should go, that’s all.
Now people can disagree with me all they want about this whole thing. I’m sure everyone has to agree that when you are in public it’s common sense not to make yourself look like an attitude punk.
I cannot possibly be wrong for realizing that. Not showing a bad attitude in public, that cannot be wrong.
I remember a poster from the Simpsons, “50 million smokers can’t be wrong!”
I would say this is a relatively weak subject to post a rant about, there are sooooo many other problems in the world.
i worked retail (grocery stores) for six years, (that’d be through high school and college, despite what bernse thinks, you can’t get all that education overnight.), I never yelled at customers, even when on freakin’ slapped my hand because the cum-sinkhole poured her change on the counter, and i was trying to help her clean it up. (Excuuuuuuuuuse me for being polite!) After dealing with that crap, of course i am gonna have a damn attitude, i don’t care how much i am being paid (or how little.) Service people get crapped on all day, so if they aren’t up to manually masturbating you while you rape their grandmother with a garden hose, tough!
