Simple jobs for simple people

[toman]

Why is it so difficult for people to perform their every-day jobs? Is saying please and thank you so difficult when selling someone lunch? Is making a hamburger with no pickles really so tough that the end product contains no toppings at all? Today I went to my local art store to get some stuff to frame a new drawing. I needed a custom size mat cut, so the girl takes it in the back and cuts it for me. Hours later when I go to put the thing in the frame, I realize the window is cut a full inch off center. Now that looks great... Too bad the art is a gift and has to be delivered today, so no chance of taking back the defective mat. Is it really that hard? Or do people just not care?

[Heresy]

Why is it so difficult for people to perform their every-day jobs? Is saying please and thank you so difficult when selling someone lunch? Is making a hamburger with no pickles really so tough that the end product contains no toppings at all? Today I went to my local art store to get some stuff to frame a new drawing. I needed a custom size mat cut, so the girl takes it in the back and cuts it for me. Hours later when I go to put the thing in the frame, I realize the window is cut a full inch off center. Now that looks great... Too bad the art is a gift and has to be delivered today, so no chance of taking back the defective mat. Is it really that hard? Or do people just not care?


They don't care. I have noticed service going downhill for years, and its only getting worse. I hate to apply lables, but its these damn generation Y kids. Gen xers were MASTERS of customer service...so much so that the service industry boomed. We were excited to work for starbucks, stop and shop...whatever. These empires were built on our backs ( I was in coffee service at various shops for 5 or 6 years), and the baton was dropped when we handed it off.

2 of the biggest problems...oversaturation, and giant companies. How can you feel your actions behind the register mean anything to the company when there is another shop of the same name 4 blocks away. There is no personal stake for a walmart/starbucks/whatever employee.

With the oversaturation, they get fired from walmart, they go to mc donalds, they get fired they go to dunkin donuts...its just the way now, and it sucks

Middle management is also to blame for not cracking the whips on these people as well as developing better training standards.

It is not just one problem, it is a host of problems that stems at hiring less desireable candidates because you have to have enough bodies on the floor. The the training is lacklustre, but because you've been there, you get bumped up to supervisor when you shouldn't be, then you, the crappy supervisor with the lacklustre training are training new employees who probably shouldn't have the job in the first place...and the cycle continues both up and out.

Finally accountability...nobody is held accountable for their mistakes on the job anymore...they're not fired, they're not disciplined, they're not even yelled at...You should go and tear that girl a new one for screwing up your matting, but are you going to? Even if you do, you're probably 1 in 100 screwups to actually complain about it.

so unfortunately there is no bandaid. And now its even gotten to the point where you have to offer even decent employees more money, which forces your overhead up, and damn near prices you out of whatever market you're in. You want good service these days? The only place you're going to find it is with rich people...people that can afford good service get good service. Seriously....try it. Go into JC penny and see the service you get...then go into Barneys. The difference is immeasurable

[CowboyHippy]

I agree with hersey
i've given up on any sort of chain resturant, i'll take a family owned mom and pop greasy spoon anyday.
granted I'm just an electrician but I put my name on the line with every job
people can save a buck and go with someone a bit cheaper but with my references my selling point is complete satisfaction for a few bucks more.
for me good service is worth a bit extra cost.

[SunshineLady]

Ugh, I live in CT and all around trees and land are being destroyed for plazas to be built up for the "rich folk" to go and shop in to make the town profit more. All these mom and pop stores suffer when these big name companies come in, which they dont know half the knowledge of a employee at a mom and pop store. And half the time i cant even go anywhere like the post office and not understand what the ladyis saying to me because she isnt speaking english. Its so agrivating here i'm moving to Maine, where the lifestyle is a little more laidback! and friendlier. And its so true no one ever wants to do their jobs! and then they give you an attitude for making them work. :ufo:

[Penny_Lane]

People don't take pride in what they do anymore. They often forget that our patronage is paying their salary. I have worked with the public before and I can't say it was my favorite thing...but, I wasn't an ass about it. It wasn't the customer's fault that I hated my job. (Well, maybe it WAS the customers that made me hate my job! LoL ) MAN, the things you do when you need bread :D !

[PEACE FROG]

I retired from contracting about a year and a half ago. I took a job in retail for the benifits. I never did work like this before. What amazes me the most is peoples sense of intitlement. It might just be California or an American thing but I find people to be big spoiled babies that treat others like shit and then act as if its your fault. Rude, impatient assholes that think because they are spending money makes you sub-human and deserving of their wrath because someone already bought what they wanted to buy or you dont know the answer to a question that they dont know either. I really enjoy my job because of the occaisional human being I encounter but they, unfortunately are the exception not the rule.

[LIBRA]

I retired from contracting about a year and a half ago. I took a job in retail for the benifits. I never did work like this before. What amazes me the most is peoples sense of intitlement. It might just be California or an American thing but I find people to be big spoiled babies that treat others like shit and then act as if its your fault. Rude, impatient assholes that think because they are spending money makes you sub-human and deserving of their wrath because someone already bought what they wanted to buy or you dont know the answer to a question that they dont know either. I really enjoy my job because of the occaisional human being I encounter but they, unfortunately are the exception not the rule.


I here ya, I worked in a grocery store in highschool and I was nice to everyone, really. And they were all ass's. Mean rude ass's. Some woman would yell at me about how much the vegetables were and stuff, I had nothing to do with that process ya know!! Some people are never happy.

[toman]

In the past when I've worked at low paying retail jobs, I've actually found it rather amusing when people act like assholes, because the only person they're hurting is themself. I'm not the one who'll have ulcers ten years from now because I stress out about the price of some trivial little thing and abuse the cashier over it, not to mention the 32 ounce coffee drinks eating their stomachs from the inside out... :D

[MzTwizler]

i thought i was doing my job fairly decent. i just started about almost 2 months now.. and my boss was bending over right in front of the cash register when i was collecting money so iwas waiting for her and trying to move around her, and the place is so small theres no room to even move..and she told me i need to move faster?.. but she was bending right in front of the cash register?.. was i supposed to let her get hit in the ass when i opened it?... The about 10 minutes later i heard her talking shit in the backlike.. these people around here dont know how to move their ass?? OMG?? lol i dont even know?..shes like 60?.. should i confront her?.. i am a hard worker?.. so i dont even know.. because im too slow?.. im not that slow?!...

[Unkle_John]

Agreed Toman.

I was in retail just for a summer when I was in college. I got out as fast as I could I vowed never to do it again.

[LIBRA]

i thought i was doing my job fairly decent. i just started about almost 2 months now.. and my boss was bending over right in front of the cash register when i was collecting money so iwas waiting for her and trying to move around her, and the place is so small theres no room to even move..and she told me i need to move faster?.. but she was bending right in front of the cash register?.. was i supposed to let her get hit in the ass when i opened it?... The about 10 minutes later i heard her talking shit in the backlike.. these people around here dont know how to move their ass?? OMG?? lol i dont even know?..shes like 60?.. should i confront her?.. i am a hard worker?.. so i dont even know.. because im too slow?.. im not that slow?!...


People will talk shit wherever you work, always. Especially retail. So I say as long as you work hard, dont worry about what anyone says. People are so bored with there lives all they have is work and some folks get off on being that way, plus woman are cady.

[MzTwizler]

well thanks.. that sounds about right.. It's messed up//how theres always the same type of ppl at every job?...I can never find some one likfe me at n e of my jobs?.. so i never really end up talking to much of anyone.. which then turns to me becoming violated....

[toman]

well thanks.. that sounds about right.. It's messed up//how theres always the same type of ppl at every job?...I can never find some one likfe me at n e of my jobs?.. so i never really end up talking to much of anyone.. which then turns to me becoming violated....

People molest you because you don't speak?

[redthewitch75]

Just the other day while we were in the drive-thru line at some fast food joint the cashier had a really bad attitude. I was like "How about a smile?" Geesh. If you don't like your damn job, get a freakin' education and do somethin' about it. But in the mean time, I expect my value meal with a damn smile! It is our money that pays your wages. I think another problem with management is the fact that a lot of managers are kids themselves. They think they're hot shit because they are in charge, but they aren't even doing THEIR jobs. And let me tell you, I am a person that will call the comment/complaint number, and I do take your name. And when I place my order, I expect to recieve everything the way I ordered it. How hard is it to get the damned order right? I mean, everything is practically automated these days anyway. I was a waitress at a family owned restaurant and I didn't have a nifty cash register that listed all the items and you just pressed a button. I wrote my orders down and handed the ticket to the cook and I got ALL my orders right. Once, the girls I work with and I went out to lunch and we were waiting to pay and we told the waitress that we needed to go, we had to get back to work and she was gone for like 5 minutes and talking to another worker, while we were waiting. Then she brings back the wrong change for me, leaves it and gets the correct change. Well, her damned fault, and her crappy service got her no tip from any of us, and I got an extra ten bucks! Oh well for her. Guess you need to pay attention to your customers, not gossip with your co-workers. Served the bitch right.

[Penny_Lane]

Peace Frog, you are right. Customers do act as though they have a sense of entitlement. As if when they walk into the place they can treat you anyway they want. I think the thing that used to piss me off was when I had my hand out to collect the money and they threw it onto the counter...like since I was behind a cash register I wasn't worthy. LoL
Ever seen the movie "Clerks"? Anyone who has ever worked in retail should rent that movie. One of my favorite quotes in that movie is, "This job would be alright if it weren't for the fucking customers." LoL

[yuma]

I am a Chef and have been in this business for over 20 years now..and i can say i have noticed that the kids coming into the business have no patience to learn..they want to jump the line and try to learn everything in 3 weeks instead of 3 years...and have no concept of putting in your dues...out of 10 kids under 18 that i hire maybe 3 survive the 3 months training period..the problem is many want to be computer programmers or rap artitst and have no real connection with the world...hell i had one kid complain to his parents that we would not allow him to wear a walkman while he was working..and the worst part was his parents thought he should be allowed to..also 1 kid refused to wear hair protection, and he had dreadlocks, 1 kid quit because we used bleach to clean our work tables and he did not like the smell..would you like more examples of what i callTHE PUSSY FACTOR that exists today? :cheers:

[toman]

^^^ On the bleach thing, I personally am very allergic to chlorine. Wearing clothes washed with bleach or swimming in chlorinated water makes a mess of me, not to mention cleaning with it. And to the people who told as a child that it was all in my head and to suck it up goes a big "Fuck You!". Not that anyone probably cares, but... :confused:

[PEACE FROG]

Although I do understand and agree with the statement about kids without work ethics. Dude my wife works at a resturant and the bleach really tears up her hands, there are other ways to disinfect, bleach being the cheapest. And To RED THE WITCH I say, once again, I understand about kids with no work ethic but first of all you really shouldnt be eating that crap anyway and second getting angry with some poor dumb kid at the fast food window is like blaming a fart on the dog :confused: ;) peace

[redthewitch75]

Although I do understand and agree with the statement about kids without work ethics. Dude my wife works at a resturant and the bleach really tears up her hands, there are other ways to disinfect, bleach being the cheapest. And To RED THE WITCH I say, once again, I understand about kids with no work ethic but first of all you really shouldnt be eating that crap anyway and second getting angry with some poor dumb kid at the fast food window is like blaming a fart on the dog :confused: ;) peace

First of all...I used to be a cashier, so I know all about what it is like to deal with customers (and I hated when they threw their money on the counter as well, so I always plopped their change on the counter instead of into their waiting hands, but I didn't give attitude and I always gave a smile). Secondly, we eat that crap (yes, I agree, it is crap), because sometimes it is a convenient thing to do, it's not that I LIKE to eat that crap, I would much rather eat something homecooked, and I would much rather my kids eat something homecooked, too. Third, why SHOULDN'T I, or anyone else for that matter, expect GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE, even from the dumb kid at the fast food window? I don't think it's unreasonable to be waited on in a courteous manner. I mean, I could understand if it was something that happened every once in a while (Live and let live), but if I receive poor customer service nearly everytime I go into some sort of retail establishment, I think that is just plain B.S.

[yuma]

^^^ On the bleach thing, I personally am very allergic to chlorine. Wearing clothes washed with bleach or swimming in chlorinated water makes a mess of me, not to mention cleaning with it. And to the people who told as a child that it was all in my head and to suck it up goes a big "Fuck You!". Not that anyone probably cares, but... :confused:

Personally, yes i hate bleaCH TOO BUT UNTIL the region changes there health policys and allows substitute cleaning products i have one choice...clean the way they insist or lose my resturant...so there is a catch 22 in all of this :cheers:

[PEACE FROG]

First of all...I used to be a cashier, so I know all about what it is like to deal with customers (and I hated when they threw their money on the counter as well, so I always plopped their change on the counter instead of into their waiting hands, but I didn't give attitude and I always gave a smile). Secondly, we eat that crap (yes, I agree, it is crap), because sometimes it is a convenient thing to do, it's not that I LIKE to eat that crap, I would much rather eat something homecooked, and I would much rather my kids eat something homecooked, too. Third, why SHOULDN'T I, or anyone else for that matter, expect GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE, even from the dumb kid at the fast food window? I don't think it's unreasonable to be waited on in a courteous manner. I mean, I could understand if it was something that happened every once in a while (Live and let live), but if I receive poor customer service nearly everytime I go into some sort of retail establishment, I think that is just plain B.S.Ya, I know you're right. Maybe Ive become accustomed to bad service, I dont eat fast food but I drink coffee and sometimes I do get angry at snooty little kids and their behavior.

[MzTwizler]

now my job is really making me angry.. yesterday i came in earlier.. being stupid and not really knwoing what time i was supposed to work.. i thought it was 12-3 and really it was 3-6.. but i didnt realize that until 2:45...and now my boss is saying that im not going to get paid ?.. I frikken worked?!!? sorry its the law... maybe in the future from now on.. but i was wearing my dumb shirt making the product and using the cash register..that qualifies me for my money!! GRR lol very angry At the Moment :(