4 ms·
There's another side of this which is that you and the janitor have very little common ground so while you can say hi to each other anything beyond the most bas
by throwaway0a5e 5y ago
There's another side of this which is that you and the janitor have very little common ground so while you can say hi to each other anything beyond the most basic small-talk is going to get very uncomfortable for both parties very fast.
I'm not going to post my credentials on HN but I have it on good authority that these jobs suck enough without having to pretend to relate to your customer. Hello is fine but beyond that and the janitor probably has their shields up lest they say something stupid the same way a white collar professional would be very careful talking to Bill Gates.
- Haruiko 5y agoI'm not following your argument. You share the same space. How distant are you with other people that you can't just say hi? Does it matter if you don't discuss politics after it? When i was a kid, i had to take the bus and i forgot my bus ticket (a pupil, on one bus stop, everyday, the same bus stop the same bus driver on a school route...) and he put a lot of energy into telling me off. A few days/weeks later i thought about it and i also thought about why i'm not greeting my bus driver when i enter. I started to say hi. I liked it. I liked saying hi to my bus driver. I forgot my bus ticket again. No issues no worries. there was mutual respect and that mutual respect came to acknowleding him. I like greeting my neigbhours as well. Somehow it makes a small connection between us. and yes i read the part with the shield: The first step is a hi. Every other step is easier not harder. Finding out their names, a little bit of talking about family and friends etc. If i would have worked close enough to Bill Gates i probably would have talked to him sooner or later. Why not? He is a human, not like Mark Zuckerburg.
- kyawzazaw 5y agoI say hi only and came from a fairly well-off family. Every additional complaints about my life or happenings in my life that I would have would be unrelatable to the maids and the drivers at our house and it might make them feel uncomfortable.
- Haruiko 5y agoAnd have you thought about finding out who your maids and drivers are? Talking to them about their lives? No interest in learning who they are? What they like? When they have birthday? If you have a bad day, for whatever reason, you think they couldn't relate to having a bad day?
- kyawzazaw 5y agoI know who they are, of course. And birthday and their sons and daughters birthdays. That's how we give gifts. We know who they are and where they are as well - we wouldn't hire them without knowing that. They couldn't relate - my bad day would be related to losing a few points on a foreign exam or if my favorite restaurant was overbooked.
- underdeserver 5y agoThe janitor knows that if he pisses you off in any way, you might complain and he would lose his job, which he probably can't afford to. Why risk it?
- Haruiko 5y agoPeople are always quite open to me, never had the issue that they didn't take the risk.
- bsanr2 5y agoThis could be easily remedied by paying everyone who works in a given building similarly.