That is such an american thing for some reason… My grandma was literally terrified when we once visited the US together and saw an adult man throw a tantrum for not being able to get barbecue sauce In McDonald’s
In Japan, they won’t say much to your face, but they will say you’re impolite, useless and should get fired in the internet reviews, if you didn’t treat them like royalty from beginning to end.
That’s honestly even more annoying.
I enjoy seeing google reviews where someone is making a huge fuss about their poor restaurant experience, and then the manager responds like “You did not raise any issues during your visit, including when asked by staff. If you had told us of any problem we would have done our best to make it right”
Like how much of a clown did that customer just show themselves to be. Couldn’t raise the problem in person, but quite happy to go kick off about it online where they feel anonymous.
I concur. I honestly don’t think I had ever seen a customer give a retail employee a hard time before (at least not in a manner that would catch other customers attention) until I visited the US. There it felt like a somewhat regular occurrence, perhaps esp. at fastfood places and Walmarts and whatnot.
“AAAARRRGHH, I want the discounted chips but the shelf is empty - FIX IT, OR ARE YOU JUST COMPLETELY USELESS?!”
I wonder what would happen if someone else threw a similar tantrum with the topic “people who throw tantrums (like that other guy) shouldn’t get what they want”.
I mean, I know what would happen, you’d get permanently trespassed and the other guy would get a comped meal, but you know, it’d be funny for five minutes.
I’ve been waiting for someone to go off on a service employee in front of me so I can kinda do that, although I plan on saying something similar to, “who the fuck do you think you are? That’s a human being, and they have no control over [issue].”
I can get away with it because I’m a large, imposing dude with a deep booming voice. As long as my wife isn’t with me, because she gets mad at me for getting involved.
I was waiting on a pickup order for food once and a lady walks in and started going off because it was 8:07, she didn’t have her food, and her order was supposed to be ready at 8:05. There’s like 10 people waiting, they are obviously overwhelmed and doing the best they can.
Me, being a bigger guy as well, chimed in with: “It’s obviously busy in here, they’re doing their best. I’ve been waiting patiently for about 10 minutes, and some people have been here longer than me.” Another guy chimed in “My order was due at 7:45, calm down lady!” She huffed and walked away from the counter glaring at us.
A few minutes later the worker came out and says “Order for Karen?” Lady grabs her bag and leaves… Other guy and I share a look and both started laughing.
I got a $10 gift card for my “inconvenience”.
I worked in the retail mines for a few years as both a peon and a peon first class (manager).
Everyone had stories about the absolutely worst assholes they had to deal with. I always told my staff to try to remember that the reason those assholes stood out so much amongst everyone else is because they were not the norm.
Most of our customers were fine or even great. But since that was the norm, they don’t stand out in our memories.
Also, I was always willing to kick out asshole customers. My staff’s job was to take care of the customers. My boss’s job was to take care of corporate.
My job was to take care of my staff.
Totally wouldn’t work. We Americans believe in a brotherhood/sisterhood of suffering. If we suffered, we believe that others NEED to suffer as well. It’s why nurses are terrible to new nurses, why so many people are against forgiving student debt, and why so many parents refuse to acknowledge their children’s issues. It’s all “I lived through it and it sucked, so you need to too,” mentality. We didn’t build compassion though suffering, we just wish it on others, too.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass. Somewhere along the line, it became socially acceptable, then desirable, and finally glorified. We have lost the plot, by and large.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass while poor. You were always supposed to defer to your betters. The Kennedys got to be assholes. The Vanderbilts got to be assholes. The Pullmans got to be assholes. Their employees and staff were expected to be utterly docile and subservient.
But a century of rising middle class prosperity combined with a Randian self-centerism transformed generations of people into CEO wanna-bes. American libertarian ideology and the myth of the Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire has utterly obliterated class consciousness in the minds of the American working class. Millions upon millions of people have it embedded in their heads that they should be treated like aristocracy.
We have lost the plot, by and large.
We’ve bought into the propaganda of American Exceptionalism. Every American gets indoctrinated into the theory that they’re above average, that they’re Gifted And Talented, that they’re destined to become The President. There is no universal understanding of the human condition, just people who deserve to be under you and people who climbed above you unfairly.
Try hiking the entire Appalachian Trail
I’m sorry but it will forever be stamped into my brain
I was in the military and my experience was wildly different. If you displayed anything other than hyper masculinity you were a little bitch that anyone could do anything to. Every single woman I served with was sexually assaulted and several of them raped. The rapists were never punished beyond a transfer to another duty station. People constantly stole from each other. Fuck the supposed comradery in the military.
Honestly, most people aren’t that bad. But the ones who are are tend to be REALLY bad and they’re the ones who are remembered.
Eh, it depends on the job. It’s not retail, but waiters are always taken aback when my wife and I are understanding about any delays or them being out of something. You can always see them bracing for the abuse when they tell us the issue.
We’ve both worked in retail and food service, so we get it.
When I worked retail, we would get shitty customers all the time, but one of my super powers was being able to diffuse the situation without having to get management involved.
You can always see them bracing for the abuse when they tell us the issue.
What morons don’t even operate on the “you don’t fuck with people handling your food” basic rule, let alone just have basic common decency.
I worked at JC Penney as a teenager 20ish years ago. One day we had a sale on Xmas socks- three pair for the price of two. Each pair of socks were $3, so with this deal you’d get them for $2 instead.
This woman waited in the long-ass line and showed up with four pairs. I rang them up, $6 for the three pairs in the deal, and $3 for the fourth. She wanted the fourth pair for $2 as well. I explained that the deal was automatically stored in the register, and that it would only apply if she bought three more pairs.
She lost her absolute shit at me, called me awful names, demanded to see a manager, and ultimately threw the socks at my face before storming out.
That was over a $1 price difference, and she was one of the more tame customers. I imagine in the last couple decades it has become much worse