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While that's very considerate of you, and graciousness is not without merit, I don't think the drivers can feed their families on your appreciation.
by disillusioned 10y ago
While that's very considerate of you, and graciousness is not without merit, I don't think the drivers can feed their families on your appreciation.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoAcceptance is a basic human need, much like nourishment. If anything, the author is making a very valid point about the lack of etiquette in the Bay Area. Coming from the midwest, I am continually shocked by peoples' aloofness and lack of civility here. That stuff would never fly where I came from.
- CaliforniaKarl 10y agoHaha! Thank you for saying something that I've observed as well! (I'm from Ohio, BTW)
- ThrustVectoring 10y agoMy inner cynic says that higher appreciation will increase competition for those jobs, driving down wages. See: teachers and college professors.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoSo that's your rationale?!
- ThrustVectoring 10y agoNo, I'm saying that being nice and fixing systemic problems are different things that can often work not just orthogonally but oppositionally. It's not enough of an effect that it'd even cross my radar for being nice to bus drivers, waiters, store clerks, etc. It is enough that I ignore panhandlers, particularly aggressive ones.
- Hydraulix989 10y agoI just don't see how you can draw that comparison though. It's one thing to act with some decency toward service workers you interact with during your everyday life while they are serving you, it's another thing to pander to an aggressive panhandler. :(
- CaliforniaKarl 10y agoYou're right, they can't. But, think of it this way: At that particular moment, I have a choice: 1) I can exit the bus without saying anything. 2) I can exit the bus while thanking the driver for getting me to where I wanted to go. Option 1 is the status quo. Option 2 hopefully puts the driver into better spirits, which hopefully helps them to go about their day a little better. I am extremely limited on what I can do to affect the situation, so I would at least like to do what I can!
- pfarnsworth 10y agoThat is truly, and quite literally, the least you can do. Don't pat yourself on the back too hard.
- preordained 10y agoWhat would you do, besides nothing? Maybe his gesture isn't much, but its not nothing. Nothing is nothing.
- pfarnsworth 10y agoI already thank absolutely everyone who helps me or provides me a service. I just don't pat myself on the back or act like I'm a fucking genius saint for something so mundane and trivial.
- wavefunction 10y agoI would say 80% of bus riders in Austin will thank their driver upon debarking. It may be a Southern thing, but it cuts across the social strata of the riders.
- navs 10y agoIt's a relatively common occurrence in New Zealand as well. I often say good morning, thank you and/or cheers to bus drivers. Ditto for taxi and uber drivers. I've worked in the customer service side of things before and I liked receiving a thank you with a smile, regardless of how jaded I eventually became.
- monktastic1 10y agoIt's also possible (even likely) that the seed of camaraderie was planted in the minds of some of the following passengers who gave thanks. That may not seem like much, but these things linger in the mind more than we realize. When I reflect on the more helpful projects I've undertaken, most sprouted (I think) from some seemingly insignificant thing long before.