Are retail and restaurant workers getting ruder?

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

So, when I was a teenager and I worked in fast food, I was taught to be polite to customers and drop everything for a customer’s request.
 

Maybe it’s just me, but have times changed? I go to retail and restaurant places now where I get from an employee, “hold on a minute. I’m busy.” Or a hostess at a restaurant stand waiting to roll another 20 napkins before deciding to turn to me to seat me. Or an usher at a symphony concert who is standing there holding programs, but doesn’t give me one or even acknowledge me.
 

These are just a few examples. But this sort of stuff happens to me almost all the time. Is it just me? Are workers these days just ruder? Am I just becoming a curmudgeon? 

[Orlando Buffalo]

Whether it is happening or not we are just old and the young people don't recognize our good looks anymore which is the truly stinging part. But it is definitely happening.

[Simon]

The entire country has turned into a bunch of ignorant, entitled spoiled rotten little brats. 

 

[BillsPride12]

I think everybody is just fed up, burned out, and miserable with our society these days.  If I have a sh***y experience with a person like that it usually doesn't bother me, my feelings are more along the lines of "Hey I get it" 

[GETTOTHE50]

Happiness comes from within. The kinder we treat each other, the easier the bs will be to deal with. Most people are too wrapped up in their own world to realize that. We all need to be a little more understanding and forgiving 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

8 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

I think everybody is just fed up, burned out, and miserable with our society these days.  If I have a sh***y experience with a person like that it usually doesn't bother me, my feelings are more along the lines of "Hey I get it" 

 

4 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Happiness comes from within. The kinder we treat each other, the easier the bs will be to deal with. Most people are too wrapped up in their own world to realize that. We all need to be a little more understanding and forgiving 

I actually am not sure it’s always a situation of people being burned out or unhappy. Maybe sometimes. But It seems also due to ignorance— like they don’t even think being friendly and customer-oriented is something they should do.

 

i am not also looking for anyone to fawn over me. Just to say hello and recognize my basic existence. 
 

another example— I was at the dollar store and me and another lady were standing in line. The cashier saw us, but kept us waiting for like 5 minutes while she was putting stuff away on a shelf.
 

she then came over, and I was like, “hey, how’s it going.” No response. She rang me up.  Then I said at the end, “thanks.” And no response.  
 

something almost identical happened to

me at Panera bread then to the other day. 
 

isn’t that weird? 

[davefan66]

I think some of the issues arise from entitled customers. There are too many customers who complain and demand freebies for minor problems or non-existent issues.  Or just simply expecting more from staff than they are entitled to.  Becomes a problem to the point staff no longer wants to deal with legitimate issues.

[Augie]

22 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

So, when I was a teenager and I worked in fast food, I was taught to be polite to customers and drop everything for a customer’s request.
 

Maybe it’s just me, but have times changed? I go to retail and restaurant places now where I get from an employee, “hold on a minute. I’m busy.” Or a hostess at a restaurant stand waiting to roll another 20 napkins before deciding to turn to me to seat me. Or an usher at a symphony concert who is standing there holding programs, but doesn’t give me one or even acknowledge me.
 

These are just a few examples. But this sort of stuff happens to me almost all the time. Is it just me? Are workers these days just ruder? Am I just becoming a curmudgeon? 

 

As to the bold, I think both of those things can be true. 😊

 

I think back to the heart of the Covid times and how places were lucky just to have any employees show up to work. I remember restaurants operating at less than half capacity because they didn’t have workers and signs that said something like “Please be nice to the workers, they are the ones who showed up.”

 

EDIT: Just adding that a guy on my college hoops board does blue collar recruiting for a major national company and they couldn’t hire people. There was a terrible shortage of labor so they did a survey and learned that the average person for that type of job actually made a bit more money sitting at home collecting stimulus checks. I hope it’s not a problem to mention that. 

 

 

There is a sense of entitlement out there that I don’t understand. My wife hired the daughter of some close friends. Very bright young lady with multiple Masters degrees. My wife needed her to do certain things, but what the young lady really enjoyed was the technology side. She spent so much time on the tech stuff my wife didn’t always get what SHE (the boss) needed. I would have been afraid if I wasn’t making the boss happy. Not this girl. She was upset that they were cutting into her tech time. The wife eventually transferred her to the tech side, where they eventually got tired of her entitled attitude and sh!tcanned her ass. 

 

 

.

Edited Sunday at 11:58 PM by Augie

[K D]

They don't want to be there and we don't need them. If they think it's below them then enjoy unemployment. Bring on the robots!

[Augie]

11 hours ago, Simon said:

The entire country has turned into a bunch of ignorant, entitled spoiled rotten little brats. 

 

 

Except here of course. Right???   😊

[boater]

Ruder... yes.

 

Don't even get me started on the tipping expectation everywhere, including take out. My rule of thumb: if I have to stand to order, you aren't getting a tip.

[US Egg]

14 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Or an usher at a symphony concert who is standing there holding programs, but doesn’t give me one or even acknowledge me. 

If I don’t know who is playing 3rd violin I lose my mind.

[Augie]

3 hours ago, US Egg said:

If I don’t know who is playing 3rd violin I lose my mind.

 

I think my son played 3rd violin in middle school…..and the first 2 chairs were empty. 😂

 

It was a huge relief when he gave that up!  

[boyst]

A bull#### excuse people too often make is "they're just introverted." B word, don't get a job where you work with people then. Greeters at a store or cashier's who don't say a word, ushers at events who just sit in clusters, wait staff who generally don't pay attention to the world, gym staff who do absolutely nothing...

 

Professionalism, integrity, and workplace discipline have died. 

[Simon]

We've become an instant gratification culture with a top heavy economy, a disdain for truth and knowledge, a hatred of anything different and an outsized sense of self-righteousness that makes us feel like everything should be handed to us yesterday and everybody else should think what we think and do what we want them to do immediately or there's something wrong.

It's poisoned our social fabric, our politics, our religion, our professional competence and ourselves. And when I say "our", I'm not just talking about the US; this is a global problem.

It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, imo.

[Just Jack]

6 hours ago, US Egg said:

If I don’t know who is playing 3rd violin I lose my mind.

 

The wife and I went to a concert sometime last year. We had seats in the balcony, and I was just fixated on one of the flute players. I resisted the urge to look her up in the program and do some cyber stalking. 

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

32 minutes ago, Just Jack said:

 

The wife and I went to a concert sometime last year. We had seats in the balcony, and I was just fixated on one of the flute players. I resisted the urge to look her up in the program and do some cyber stalking. 

Skin flute?

[ExiledInIllinois]

19 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

I think everybody is just fed up, burned out, and miserable with our society these days.  If I have a sh***y experience with a person like that it usually doesn't bother me, my feelings are more along the lines of "Hey I get it" 

Exactly! If you get bothered by it then you're the entitled one.

15 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

Happiness comes from within. The kinder we treat each other, the easier the bs will be to deal with. Most people are too wrapped up in their own world to realize that. We all need to be a little more understanding and forgiving 

Hey Mr.Sunshine... Where has that attitude got the BillsMafia?  All the niceness they do gets boopkiss.  You'd think that we'd have at least ONE SuperBowl by now... But for all the peace, love, & understanding on Mark Andrews' dropped balls, we get paid back with scorn and Ref screw jobs and our own dropped balls.

 

Nice guys finish last.😠

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

10 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

 

I actually am not sure it’s always a situation of people being burned out or unhappy. Maybe sometimes. But It seems also due to ignorance— like they don’t even think being friendly and customer-oriented is something they should do.

 

i am not also looking for anyone to fawn over me. Just to say hello and recognize my basic existence. 
 

another example— I was at the dollar store and me and another lady were standing in line. The cashier saw us, but kept us waiting for like 5 minutes while she was putting stuff away on a shelf.
 

she then came over, and I was like, “hey, how’s it going.” No response. She rang me up.  Then I said at the end, “thanks.” And no response.  
 

something almost identical happened to

me at Panera bread then to the other day. 
 

isn’t that weird? 

I bet the owner would have been right on it.  How about staff one stocking & one checking put.  Of course prices would rise because ownership has to maintain their lifestyle. 

[Another Fan]

This turned out to be a triggering thread 😟