3 ms·

> being an asshole is being an asshole. If you're going to be a jerk to someone who's working a random lunch counter, you're probably just generally a jerk I'd

> being an asshole is being an asshole. If you're going to be a jerk to someone who's working a random lunch counter, you're probably just generally a jerk I'd take it step further. You should be gracious to a fault to the person at the lunch counter. Their life categorically sucks.

gm-conspiracy 10y ago
Wow.
67726e 10y ago
> I'd take it step further. You should be gracious to a fault to the person at the lunch counter. Their life categorically sucks. That's awfully fucking judgmental. I've got friends who have been working in the service industry their whole life. Many of them are much happier than I am. Just because you have some high paying office job doesn't mean your life is automatically better.
- learc83 10y ago
  I worked retail customer service and then tech support for years before I got a high paying office job. Money doesn't makes life your life automatically better, but it does make it many times easier. It won't solve all your problems, but solves a heck of a lot of them. I try to treat service employees well, not because of some patronizing sense of responsibility, but because I empathize with their position. They have a crappy job and low pay. Dealing with the stress of computer generated everchanging schedules, rude customers, and management that treats you like a child is bad enough. When you couple that with barley making enough to survive, it's a pretty tough existence (realitive to my own).
  - 67726e 10y ago
    > They have a crappy job and low pay. Dealing with the stress of computer generated everchanging schedules, rude customers, and management that treats you like a child is bad enough. When you couple that with barley making enough to survive, it's a pretty tough existence (realitive to my own). It's possible to make quite a nice living working F&B, a customer service job, in a tourist town. Don't just assume everyone working a role is beneath you and living some kind of shit existence.
    - learc83 10y ago
      It has nothing to do with them being beneath me. Their are people making a nice living in every industry. The overwhelming majority of service workers do not. There's a possibility that my middle-aged waitress is independently wealthy and just doing this for fun, that doesn't stop me from leaving a $100 at Christmas time. It's not because I think I'm better than her, it's because in all likelihood, I've been just a bit luckier than her financialy.
      - maccard 10y ago
        > It's not because I think I'm better than her, it's because in all likelihood, I've been just a bit luckier than her financialy. This is exactly what people here are talking about. The $100 tip shouldn't have anything to do with you being luckier financially, it should be a gesture of appreciation. A $100 tip isn't a gesture of appreciation normally, it's a gesture of "I am more fortunate than you, but I take pity on you so here you are."
        ido 10y ago
        Solidarity with people less fortunate than you in not patronizing...social solidarity is a good thing.
        iamacynic 10y ago
        so not only are you passing judgment on an act of goodwill, you are manufacturing the fundamental motivation and putting it into someone else's head as well. that's called projection. you surely would have come across that in all your pop psych and pop philosophy reading that you are obviously doing lately, right?
        Dylan16807 10y ago
        Sharing money because you have more of it is not judgemental or saying someone is beneath you. Why would you think that?
  - maccard 10y ago
    > I try to treat service employees well, not because of some patronizing sense of responsibility, but because I empathize with their position. That sounds like a patronizing sense of responsibility. I treat service employees the same as I treat everyone else I meet - like a person. Not because they're serving me food/coffee, or because I have some sort of empathy for their situation (I do, I worked retail for a long time), but because they're human beings just like me.
    - learc83 10y ago
      It's much easier to treat a service worker like they are beneath you specifically because they are serving you. Understanding that they are people like you is the definition of empathy. But I guarantee that you don't treat all people exactly equally. How often do you leave a tip for a service person (beyond what is expected). How often do you tip your dentist, or your lawyer?
      - poikniok 10y ago
        Maybe I am missing something, but why would you tip your dentist or lawyer?
        maccard 10y ago
        I think the parent comment was implying that I don't treat everyone equally, e.g. I don't tip everyone that I interact with, when really that has nothing to do with it.
        scurvy 10y ago
        People do. A lot. My father was an ophthalmologist,and people really dig being able to see. It was just an endless parade of gifts and people stopping by to say thank you at our household.
      - maccard 10y ago
        > But I guarantee that you don't treat all people exactly equally. No, I don't, and it would be incorrect to do so. I don't treat my solicitor the same as my barista, I have different relationships with those people. But for someone I don't know, I treat everyone equally, be they rich, poor, serving me, being served by me, saying hello on the street, etc. > How often do you leave a tip for a service person (beyond what is expected). How often do you tip your dentist, or your lawyer? There's an enormous difference between tipping people and treating them respectfully. When I order a coffee, I don't ever shout or abuse the people that are serving me. If there's a mistake, I'll be polite and point it out. If there's still an issue at that point, I'll be a little less polite and probably not return. When I phone my solicitor, I'm always polite. I don't shout at them, or abuse them, and if there's a mistake, I point it out. I treat everyone the way I would want to be treated if the roles were reversed.
  - scarface74 10y ago
    What if they aren't working there to survive? What if they are just teenagers living at home for some spending money? Or a retired person just trying to get out of the house?
    - scurvy 10y ago
      Or someone working retail or service job in Singapore which has 0% unemployment? The answer, the most expensive worst service people in the world. The don't care about their job because there are 3 more waiting for them. There's also a huge social safety net there. It's not that there's no incentive to do well. It's perverse to say, but people sometimes don't care when you take away the floor.
- ryanmarsh 10y ago
  Being able to afford health care does.
  - 67726e 10y ago
    Who is to say they don't have healthcare?
    - ryanmarsh 10y ago
      it sucks to live on minimum wage. don't glorify it.
      - 67726e 10y ago
        They don't live on minimum wage. I'm not glorifying shit. How about you stop making false assumptions. Yeah, downvote my own anecdotes. Y'all surely know better than I.
        Dylan16807 10y ago
        Wow, I really want to know what motivated someone to flag this particular comment.
      - Dylan16807 10y ago
        Don't jump in and start altering someone else's factual story??
dvtv75 10y ago
I'm of the same opinion, they're working for minimum wage or near enough to it, maybe just being nice to them will make their day a bit better. I've worked those jobs, and have been abused for an incompetent (or lying) boss. It's not my fault, please don't scream at me. One guy did shout at me while I was out on a job, and then when I finished he gave me a bottle of a nice wine by way of gratitude for the work done and apology. That put a spring in my step (even if I don't drink wine). Be nice to front line staff, because as you say, their lives suck.

gm-conspiracy 10y ago

Wow.

67726e 10y ago

> I'd take it step further. You should be gracious to a fault to the person at the lunch counter. Their life categorically sucks. That's awfully fucking judgmental. I've got friends who have been working in the service industry their whole life. Many of them are much happier than I am. Just because you have some high paying office job doesn't mean your life is automatically better.

learc83 10y ago
I worked retail customer service and then tech support for years before I got a high paying office job. Money doesn't makes life your life automatically better, but it does make it many times easier. It won't solve all your problems, but solves a heck of a lot of them. I try to treat service employees well, not because of some patronizing sense of responsibility, but because I empathize with their position. They have a crappy job and low pay. Dealing with the stress of computer generated everchanging schedules, rude customers, and management that treats you like a child is bad enough. When you couple that with barley making enough to survive, it's a pretty tough existence (realitive to my own).
- 67726e 10y ago
  > They have a crappy job and low pay. Dealing with the stress of computer generated everchanging schedules, rude customers, and management that treats you like a child is bad enough. When you couple that with barley making enough to survive, it's a pretty tough existence (realitive to my own). It's possible to make quite a nice living working F&B, a customer service job, in a tourist town. Don't just assume everyone working a role is beneath you and living some kind of shit existence.
  - learc83 10y ago
    It has nothing to do with them being beneath me. Their are people making a nice living in every industry. The overwhelming majority of service workers do not. There's a possibility that my middle-aged waitress is independently wealthy and just doing this for fun, that doesn't stop me from leaving a $100 at Christmas time. It's not because I think I'm better than her, it's because in all likelihood, I've been just a bit luckier than her financialy.
    - maccard 10y ago
      > It's not because I think I'm better than her, it's because in all likelihood, I've been just a bit luckier than her financialy. This is exactly what people here are talking about. The $100 tip shouldn't have anything to do with you being luckier financially, it should be a gesture of appreciation. A $100 tip isn't a gesture of appreciation normally, it's a gesture of "I am more fortunate than you, but I take pity on you so here you are."
      - ido 10y ago
        Solidarity with people less fortunate than you in not patronizing...social solidarity is a good thing.
      - iamacynic 10y ago
        so not only are you passing judgment on an act of goodwill, you are manufacturing the fundamental motivation and putting it into someone else's head as well. that's called projection. you surely would have come across that in all your pop psych and pop philosophy reading that you are obviously doing lately, right?
      - Dylan16807 10y ago
        Sharing money because you have more of it is not judgemental or saying someone is beneath you. Why would you think that?
- maccard 10y ago
  > I try to treat service employees well, not because of some patronizing sense of responsibility, but because I empathize with their position. That sounds like a patronizing sense of responsibility. I treat service employees the same as I treat everyone else I meet - like a person. Not because they're serving me food/coffee, or because I have some sort of empathy for their situation (I do, I worked retail for a long time), but because they're human beings just like me.
  - learc83 10y ago
    It's much easier to treat a service worker like they are beneath you specifically because they are serving you. Understanding that they are people like you is the definition of empathy. But I guarantee that you don't treat all people exactly equally. How often do you leave a tip for a service person (beyond what is expected). How often do you tip your dentist, or your lawyer?
    - poikniok 10y ago
      Maybe I am missing something, but why would you tip your dentist or lawyer?
      - maccard 10y ago
        I think the parent comment was implying that I don't treat everyone equally, e.g. I don't tip everyone that I interact with, when really that has nothing to do with it.
      - scurvy 10y ago
        People do. A lot. My father was an ophthalmologist,and people really dig being able to see. It was just an endless parade of gifts and people stopping by to say thank you at our household.
    - maccard 10y ago
      > But I guarantee that you don't treat all people exactly equally. No, I don't, and it would be incorrect to do so. I don't treat my solicitor the same as my barista, I have different relationships with those people. But for someone I don't know, I treat everyone equally, be they rich, poor, serving me, being served by me, saying hello on the street, etc. > How often do you leave a tip for a service person (beyond what is expected). How often do you tip your dentist, or your lawyer? There's an enormous difference between tipping people and treating them respectfully. When I order a coffee, I don't ever shout or abuse the people that are serving me. If there's a mistake, I'll be polite and point it out. If there's still an issue at that point, I'll be a little less polite and probably not return. When I phone my solicitor, I'm always polite. I don't shout at them, or abuse them, and if there's a mistake, I point it out. I treat everyone the way I would want to be treated if the roles were reversed.
- scarface74 10y ago
  What if they aren't working there to survive? What if they are just teenagers living at home for some spending money? Or a retired person just trying to get out of the house?
  - scurvy 10y ago
    Or someone working retail or service job in Singapore which has 0% unemployment? The answer, the most expensive worst service people in the world. The don't care about their job because there are 3 more waiting for them. There's also a huge social safety net there. It's not that there's no incentive to do well. It's perverse to say, but people sometimes don't care when you take away the floor.
ryanmarsh 10y ago
Being able to afford health care does.
- 67726e 10y ago
  Who is to say they don't have healthcare?
  - ryanmarsh 10y ago
    it sucks to live on minimum wage. don't glorify it.
    - 67726e 10y ago
      They don't live on minimum wage. I'm not glorifying shit. How about you stop making false assumptions. Yeah, downvote my own anecdotes. Y'all surely know better than I.
      - Dylan16807 10y ago
        Wow, I really want to know what motivated someone to flag this particular comment.
    - Dylan16807 10y ago
      Don't jump in and start altering someone else's factual story??

dvtv75 10y ago

I'm of the same opinion, they're working for minimum wage or near enough to it, maybe just being nice to them will make their day a bit better. I've worked those jobs, and have been abused for an incompetent (or lying) boss. It's not my fault, please don't scream at me. One guy did shout at me while I was out on a job, and then when I finished he gave me a bottle of a nice wine by way of gratitude for the work done and apology. That put a spring in my step (even if I don't drink wine). Be nice to front line staff, because as you say, their lives suck.