# Worst Customers Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 23, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491 "2011-10-23T00:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/141 "2011-10-28T01:47:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > In the interest of fighting ignorance: sure it does, as long as the condition is the result of exposure to a hazard in the course and scope of your employment. 😃 And in the interest of fighting boredom, I didn’t look up any labor laws before making a joke. Sheesh, it’s like I forgot **Our Glorious Slogan** for a minute… ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/142 "2011-10-28T02:42:25Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > At no point did I specify that “I see X, I expect X”. I said that in my experience, X tends toward Y, and thus group X is over-represented in bad experiences. > > It is how they greet me and how they proceed on the phone that is the experience. Snide, sarcastic, condescending, making it clear from word one that they’re important and don’t have time. Walking into the conversation in a confrontational manner, refusing to cooperate. These are the hallmarks of New York City Rude. You missed the import of my question, so I’ll happily rephrase it. How, on the phone, do you distinguish “New York City Rude” from “Jewish New York City Rude”? If you cannot answer that question with a high degree of specificity, how do you justify them being two separate entries on your list? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/143 "2011-10-28T02:50:13Z")
People’s name and address comes up on my screen based either on their phone number, or information they provided to the automated system, or to me. That and there are subtle difference in accent in some cases. Talk to enough people, you pick these things up. Jewish people from NYC are often as distinctive as Italians from NYC or people from New Jersey. It is a cultural patois. Am I 100% accurate in all circumstances? No, because largely, I don’t give a fuck. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/144 "2011-10-28T05:06:10Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > You’d think that, because you’re a fairly coherent person who appears to use her head for more than a hat rack. I assure you from the bottom of my heart, as a guy who was a shift manager at more than one restaurant and grocery store in high school and college, there are a LOT of goddamn morons out there who will generalize from one person if it fits the preconceptions they came into the job with. Ah. I guess I’ve interacted with fewer morons. OTOH, it could be that the morons you knew had come into the job with preconceived biases? > [@](#): > > At some point, the dividing line is in how you form your expectations for each person. I’m not sure I agree with this. > [@](#): > > Case in point–there’s been proposed a cultural expectation that suggests Asians might not tip as well due to cultural ignorance, and I agree that noting cultural differences is not “racist”. > > How is our friend \*\*carm \*\*to distinguish between Z Y Cao (recent immigrant from China who has never seen tipping and would think it was silly if you told him about it, guy in his 30s who works as a computer engineer and wears a suit and speaks near-flawless English with a light accent) and Peiyun Chan (second-generation American, worked as a waiter while in college, guy in his 30s who works as a computer engineer and wears a suit and speaks near-flawless English with a light accent)? If he assumes Peiyun won’t tip, he’s at best dancing on the “racism” line if not over it. If he acts on that assumption, he’s over the line into racism. I agree with the last sentence, don’t with the second to last and I don’t think the rest applies to those last two sentences. Being able to tell if a Chinese person is a recent immigrant or a second generation citizen and whether or not a certain race may not tip well due to cultural differences doesn’t have anything to do with **carm’s** story as it was told here. He said “Oriental Asians” which must be a wide selection of cultures, and he didn’t say anything about whether or not these folks had accents, or any other details as to what subgroup he is talking about. And since **Jack Batty** , **Vinyl Turnip** and **IvoryTowerDenizen** were rude to him right off, I doubt he will be back to provide details. I think it’s most likely he is making his decisions the same way I did when I suffered thru waitressing - broadly. Tho in my case, it was more age/sex than race/religion. Well, except for the church ladies - they didn’t tip for shit! :smack: > [@](#): > > Similarly, I’d ask Chimera how on earth he distinguishes Sally Cohen (lives in Brooklyn, talks like Fran Drescher with a sprinkling of yiddish words, is Jewish) from Sarah Conroy (lives in Brooklyn, talks like Fran Drescher with a sprinking of yiddish words, is not Jewish), andNancy Goldberg (lives in Manhattan, has a typical New Yawk accent, is Jewish) from Margaret Smith (who’s also Jewish, and also lives in Manhattan), and whether he expects someone with a Manhattan accent and a last name “Smith” to be as rude as any other NYC Jew. Some of it is from what his computer screen is telling him, the rest must be experience. I wouldn’t know since I have very little experience with anyone from NYC. > [@rogerbox](#): > > You think if the waiter is busy with too many tables and he assumes the asians won’t tip that they’re going to receive equal treatment when the waiter has bills to pay? I think you’re very naive. Shrug. As I said above, I am in one of the subgroups that tends to tip poorly, yet I still find plenty of waiters/waitresses who give me the same good treatment they give other tables. Perhaps it is that you are too cynical? ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/145 "2011-10-28T07:19:34Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Shrug. As I said above, I am in one of the subgroups that tends to tip poorly, yet I still find plenty of waiters/waitresses who give me the same good treatment they give other tables. Perhaps it is that you are too cynical? I don’t know how you came to say something like this. We were talking about a theoretical waiter who assumes a customer won’t tip based on nothing but their race. Then YOU think because you are a woman and get served well, therefore no waiters treat their customers different based on race. You missed out on some really obvious possibilities here: 1. I don’t agree that women are particularly well known as bad tippers like you think they are, and 2. Maybe you have not come across bigoted waiters. I never said all waiters are racist, I said the ones who assume someone won’t tip because of their race pretty much are quite likely to prioritize service during a rush to the people they think will give them a tip. I don’t think cynicism means what you think it does. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/146 "2011-10-28T16:29:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And in the interest of fighting boredom, I didn’t look up any labor laws before making a joke. > > Sheesh, it’s like I forgot **Our Glorious Slogan** for a minute… I thought the giant smiley face made it obvious that I was just throwing out a fact, rather than correcting you. That said, you wouldn’t find a list of covered conditions even if you _had_ tried looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/147 "2011-10-28T18:27:33Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > That and there are subtle difference in accent in some cases. Talk to enough people, you pick these things up. Jewish people from NYC are often as distinctive as Italians from NYC or people from New Jersey. It is a cultural patois. Interesting that you’d say that. How long have you been doing this? I ask because I spent quite some time living in Brooklyn part-time around Avenue M, and I could not distinguish the accents of obviously Jewish and not-obviously-Jewish people. > [@](#): > > Am I 100% accurate in all circumstances? No, because largely, I don’t give a fuck. And yet you apparently care enough to make a list, and differentiate out a subgroup. Nooot helping your case, such as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/148 "2011-10-28T21:34:47Z")
I used to deliver pizza. I’m trying to think if I noticed any coorelation between tipping and ethnic groups, but I realized that that would be impossible, because I don’t SEE color, MAAAAAAAAN. And that is why I am better than the OP. [Disclaimer: I only read the first half page.] ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/149 "2011-10-30T01:44:41Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I don’t know how you came to say something like this. We were talking about a theoretical waiter who assumes a customer won’t tip based on nothing but their race. Then YOU think because you are a woman and get served well, therefore no waiters treat their customers different based on race. Did you read what I said? No, apparently you didn’t. > [@](#): > > You missed out on some really obvious possibilities here: > > 1. I don’t agree that women are particularly well known as bad tippers like you think they are, and That’s fine, but apparently most of the rest of the world thinks they are. > [@](#): > > 1. Maybe you have not come across bigoted waiters. I’m quite sure I have. > [@](#): > > I never said all waiters are racist, I said the ones who assume someone won’t tip because of their race pretty much are quite likely to prioritize service during a rush to the people they think will give them a tip. I don’t think cynicism means what you think it does. Apparently you don’t read your posts either, or maybe you are just not reading many of the posts in the thread itself. You didn’t actually say anything about racist, you said “assumes the asians won’t tip”, whether or not just thinking that is racist is under debate here, so if you meant that I was to assume that meant the waiter was racist, you haven’t been reading. Also, even if it had been established that thinking that was is racist, it still hasn’t been established that a majority of waiters are going to change the way they do their job based on what their table looks like, at least to the point that it would be noticeable. Even during a rush, it would take quite a bit of difference in service for it to be questioned as to whether or not the waiter was acting in a racist manner (well except for those people who are just looking for it everywhere they go). Just forgetting something, or not getting back to the table to refill the coffees as often as one would like isn’t generally going to be something a waiter is doing on purpose for whatever reason. Which bring us to cynicism - since you seem to be assuming all kinds of negative and selfish motives in these waiters, I’d say that you qualify as a cynic. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/150 "2011-10-30T04:34:54Z")
I really got nothin’, everything you have said is pretty much wrong, and I’m way too lazy. But yes, assuming negative things about others based only on their race is pretty much the definition of racist, yes. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/151 "2011-10-30T05:24:44Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I really got nothin’, . You got that right. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/152 "2011-10-30T05:48:05Z")
I have worked in call centers too, and people act differently because of their culture and there are people who are going to be rude because you’re just a flunk on a phone. I haven’t broken down my experiences into categories, but I’ve been screamed at, cussed at, and called names. I think some of you may be forgetting that there are always a few assholes who will treat others like shit for no good reason at all, and the person on the phone has only so much recourse in hanging up or in leaving notes for their co-workers. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/153 "2011-10-30T12:41:10Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Two weeks later, the fucking _Whop_ realizes that it isn’t going to work, and so tells his people to do what I and his people have been fucking suggesting for the past two fucking weeks. And I saw that, repeatedly, but only from fucking Italian contractors. Did I miss the responses to this? Seriously, is this a whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/154 "2011-10-30T12:47:22Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Did I miss the responses to this? Seriously, is this a whoosh? Yeah, isn’t it “wop”? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/155 "2011-10-30T12:57:31Z")
Actually, yes it is. I haven’t been called a wop in over 30 years. Didn’t know there was still any affection for the term. And I’m not losing sleep over it, was just surprised that in this friggin’’ thread, where perceived tipping practices become cause for outrage, that passed without mention. (Unless I missed the mention, in which case, carry on…) ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/156 "2011-10-30T18:17:39Z")
I thought it was supposed to be a joke, it wasn’t very well done though. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/157 "2011-10-30T19:38:46Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I thought it was supposed to be a joke, it wasn’t very well done though. Isn’t that what the racists usually say? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/158 "2011-11-01T17:19:49Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Did I miss the responses to this? Seriously, is this a whoosh? Yes, yes it was. I was surprised no one actually fell for it. ☹ Oh, well, maybe my next one will be better… ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491/159 "2011-11-01T18:07:58Z")
> [@digs](#): > > (yeah, that was me who locked my car doors when a bunch of thug-wannabe minority “Disinfected Youths” walked by my car yesterday) I just wanted to say that many thug-wannabes I have seen could use a good disinfection. 😃 Carry on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-customers-ever/600491.md?page=7)