Posted on 06/02/2004 5:40:46 AM PDT by Maria S
So I'm waiting at the airport gate for a plane to the West Coast, when I learn it's just been delayed a minimum of two hours. I go up to the airline agent to find out if there are alternative flights to the same city.
"How should I know?" she blasts.
"I don't know," I answer, "maybe because you WORK HERE?!"
I guess I was stunned by her rudeness. But I shouldn't have been. I see it more and more.
Those sympathetic to this airline worker might say it's the hours, the pressure or the industry itself. I don't buy it. After all, it's not as if I can just pop on my show and be rude if I've had a hard day.
My dad was a big believer in treating people well, oftentimes even when he himself wasn't well. His theory was, "It's not the other guy's fault you're having a bad day."
But something has happened in this country today where the behavior that stands out is the smile, the laugh, the extra service. It's sad that we have become so accustomed to bad service that we're shocked when we get good service. My parents' generation taught me the customer is always right. These days, it seems the customer is wrong, too.
I guess there's something to that . . . that we all become so frazzled, so angry and so short-tempered that we act frazzled and angry and short-tempered. What's remarkable to me is how this permeates whole generations. The other day at a drive-through, I reminded the teenage girl serving me that she forgot my drinks. She looked at me, hissed, rolled her eyes, and then took her sweet time getting me the sodas.
Now keep in mind I never yelled at the girl, never snapped at the girl, never did anything to make her the pill she was. I never told the girl, "Hey, you idiot . . . you forgot something here!" I simply reminded her of an oversight. All I got was 'tude.
It's the tollkeeper at the bridge, the woman who serves you coffee at the shop, the computer help desk guy on the phone. It's all of these places, all of these venues and all of these professions.
Some might argue it's the pay in some of these professions that keeps the employees rude. I don't buy it. What could explain the bank branch manager who couldn't be more indifferent or the CEO who couldn't be more dismissive? Believe me, I've seen rich jerks and I've seen poor jerks. Trust me when I say that jerkery knows no financial pedigree.
What's happened in our society is that we have stopped caring about our society. We forget the little things, so it's no wonder some of us screw up the big things. Me? I try to work hard on the little things. I know it's not much, but on the 27th of each month, every month, every year, I do something special for my wife - a small gift, a dinner out, I don't know. It heralds the first day of our first date. And we've been doing it now for more than 20 years. Trust me, I don't break the bank for the occasion, but I do mark the occasion. Because that little date is a big thing to me.
And trust me again when I say I can be just as short-tempered as the next guy . . . I am of Italian descent, after all! But I try not to start out that way, and my days at work are much more constructive and pleasant when I am not that way. That's the idea - to look at the good ideas, the good possibilities and the good results.
My mom was prone to using a lot of overrun phrases. One of her favorites was the old "honey" over "vinegar" line, that we can get more being nice than being nasty. She was right then. She's right now.
Part of the problem with service in this country is we don't honor it like we once did. There's nothing wrong or evil about having a bad day. There's everything wrong with making others have to have it . . . with you.
Thanks for the link.
Reading the stories is hilarious. This one tech service fellow got back at a rude customer by making sure he would get a healthy dose of porn spam.
That reminds me of something I did to a viciously rude customer years ago. It's the most depraved, awful thing I have ever done. I am deeply ashamed, but every time I think about it, I have to stifle a laugh. I got her good.
But, I can't share it. It would besmirch my good name and the good folks around here would lose all respect for me.
The New Yorker scowls at him and says: "Why don't you learn to speak proper English before you talk to me? You should never end a sentence with a preposition like that!"
The Texan is genuinely humbled, so he apologizes and re-phrases the question: "Can you tell me where Times Square is at, @sshole?"
I LOVE the idea of being paid to do what you do. Heck, I do it for free now! How'd you luck into this kind of work, and is this something most counties have? What part of the country are you in? What are the fees the county charges for this kind of assistance?
It's just simple economics.
Someone has said "What this country really needs is a good depression." Perhaps there's a hint of truth to that.
...or the guy visiting NYC for the first time says:
"Hey, old man. How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"
The old man says:
"Practice, my boy, practice."
Until January I owned a Thai Restaurant. I waited tables daily and my tips were always better than the cute young Thai girl waitresses.
Since I'm an old fat bald white guy the reason must have been listening, getting the order right,
treating the customer as though they were the reason I was there, and doing it in a timely friendly manner.
Well I don't need a Depression and I hope they don't get it either.
What they really need is to be fired as soon as they act like that, a personal depression, if you will. When they can't find a job they might get the message.
If you saw what they do in the bathrooms here you would puke. If you heard the way they talk, particularly the females, you would wince. (and I'm no prude) They dress like slobs. they look like street people.
They have no clue about history or freedom or government or rights or anything else important. They do know about sports scores, the "American Idol", their next party or the next time they get laid. Including females.
Thankfully, they don't represent ALL of their generation, but it's not encouraging.
Never miss a chance to pursue your obsessive hatred do you? Seek help.
Ahh, the MTV generation. Charming.
We don't demand good service and good treatment, and so we don't get it. What Cavuto should do is take names and report behavior like that to the manager or supervisor on the spot. When an American marveled to a Japanese transportation manager that the trains always ran on time there, he said that was because if the train was two minutes late he could expect 200 calls reporting the bad service. We put up with slobs and complain to our spouses about it. No wonder service is so poor.
The sad part is, they have no clue what they are doing is wrong.
"Nacho, Nacho Man . . ."
We can hardly blame them, I suppose. Unless the parents were greatly involved, the kids were brought up having their "it's all about me and my hair" attitude constantly affirmed by MTV and the corresponding movies and other media influences.
And all their friends have the same outlook.
Do you deny that Hollywood practices cultural libertarianism?
But, you would think less of me. :0)
"One often gets 'reverse culture shock' when returning to the States, particularly after maybe a year or two in Japan (where one gets spoiled) to get confronted immediately, even upon landing at the airport, with crappy attitudes, mistakes, and just plain unconcerned and disrespectful attitude toward the customer. It slaps you right in the face, you get angry, and after a few weeks and months though, you get use to the lowered level of service again"
Hmm, naybe that's why everyone hates us. I had a similar reverse culture shock returning to the US from a conference in South America (Pre 9/11). The treatment of visitors to the US by the police and immigration people at the US gate was horrendous (even by my standards).
"I'm dying to know. What kind of food do they serve at a Norwegian restaurant (other than lutefisk)?"
Let's see, I remember having venison stew, mashed rutabagas (pretty yummy actually), several types of herring, some really good cheeses, and various shrimp, egg, and beet salads. Also a few different types of smoked fish. There were other main courses but I don't remember what they were because I didn't have them. We've been to Disney twice and we've eaten at this restaurant twice and loved it.
Do you deny that you have an obession which shows it's ugly self on almost every thread, NO MATTER HOW OFF TOPIC? That no matter how much of a stretch you will attempt to hijack every discussion into a hatefest against freedom advocates?
You need help, you stink up this forum.
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