5 ms·

I'm not surprised to see three industries at the top of the list where interfacing with the general public is the main part of your job. I worked in retail as a

I'm not surprised to see three industries at the top of the list where interfacing with the general public is the main part of your job. I worked in retail as a full time job for five years on my way to becoming a programmer. The verbal abuse you can receive from people on a daily basis was rough. Nearly every interaction involves putting yourself in between a company's policy and the person in front of you. You're sort of being paid to be a sacrificial lamb for the company's policies. A decade or so later I imagine it's even worse given how emotionally charged people have become due to this era of politics and how everyone is coping with lack of leisure during COVID. I remember how nearly all of my friendships were with people I immediately worked with or who also worked in retail/restaurants and in hindsight it's obvious we were bonding over something other people couldn't relate to. Getting together typically involved a lot of alcohol.

munificent 5y ago
I follow a few subreddits dedicated to service industry jobs and the stories you hear there are just absolutely insane. COVID has taken a deep emotional toll on everyone. Then you factor in that the kind of people still going out to restaurants and such during the pandemic are also often the most entitled, least thoughtful segment of the population, and you get some real horror stories. It used to be "here's a story of a shitty tip I got". Now, it's like "I had to call the cops on someone who started throwing chairs when I told him he had to weak a mask." Healthcare is the same. Just story after story of burned out nurses having patients dying of COVID screaming in their face about it being a hoax. I feel so sorry for anyone who's job forces them to deal with people so decoupled from reality.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  I assume many people also looked around at friends and family with computer friendly jobs and saw them be able to work from the comfort of their own home in the event of a public health emergency, while they had to still go out and deal with the public face to face. If I was in their position, I would be demanding a hefty premium for having to leave my house to earn money.
  - djohnston 5y ago
    Yeah but it's a labor supply issues, they don't have the leverage to make those demands, at least not yet although hopefully this is changing now.
- dexwiz 5y ago
  My sister was a hostess for an upscale restaurant and had a gun pulled on her because she asked someone to wear a mask. The worst part, instead of calling the cops or asking them to leave, her managers still had her seat the party. She doesn't work there anymore.
  - ekanes 5y ago
    Yikes. Pulling a gun like that is a serious crime, isn't it?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - boring_twenties 5y ago
      Definitely. Simply displaying the firearm is a crime (usually "brandishing"). If he actually pointed the gun at another person, well, IANAL but that sounds like assault with a deadly weapon to me.
  - pavon 5y ago
    Honestly, that is probably the best way to defuse the situation and prevent people from being shot. Collect license plates, credit card info, photos etc, and call the police after they have left the building.
    - fundad 5y ago
      I'm sure they did not do any of that
    - cgriswald 5y ago
      Even if that were the case, the manager should be the one seating them. He shouldn't be forcing his victimized employee to seat them.
  - logicalmonster 5y ago
    I'm not saying that pulling a gun on anybody for this reason is in any way reasonable or proportional. What happened to your sister sounds horrific and her former-employer sounds awful beyond words. But I have to say, I understand why people asked to mask up in some cases flip out. Does it make sense to anybody that society has somehow decided that the way to be safe in restaurants is to put on a mask so a host can walk you 10-15 feet to your table for 10 seconds where you then proceed to take your mask off for over an hour? The mask ritual especially in this case is dehumanizing performative theater that doesn't make a lick of logical sense. Most people wouldn't be so uptight about the Covid rules when they make any sense: but many of them are beyond nonsensical.
- fundad 5y ago
  The mass-formation-psychosis among anti-maskers and COVID-19-deniers is so far beyond what we're prepared for.
  - ravenstine 5y ago
    Because mass-formation-psychosis can't happen to people who obey.
oramit 5y ago
"Nearly every interaction involves putting yourself in between a company's policy and the person in front of you. You're sort of being paid to be a sacrificial lamb for the company's policies." The grocery store near me has been bleeding workers the past few years and it's reached the point where there are consistently long checkout lines filled with annoyed shoppers even on non busy days. I could complain about the wait to the workers, but what would that do? I could complain to their shift manager, but so what, they don't do the hiring? Maybe I could find the grocery manager, he would probably want more help, but he doesn't control the budget. Now we're at 4 layers of management, the store director, who could increase hiring, but the regional manager wants to juice the numbers for his bonus so maybe I could reach out to the state director... What i'm getting at is it seems like corporate bureaucracy at so many places has reached a point where anybody with real power to make changes has been completely isolated from the public. It's just powerless workers being yelled at by a powerless public. I don't really know how we fix that.
- rubiquity 5y ago
  > What i'm getting at is it seems like corporate bureaucracy at so many places has reached a point where anybody with real power to make changes has been completely isolated from the public Indeed. I'd even generalize further and say isolated from any of the details which would could lead to positive changes that are actually in line with their thinking. Whether that be they are too far removed from the details or for byzantine reasons the details never make it to them.
- kevinventullo 5y ago
  You fix it by shopping elsewhere.
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  > Now we're at 4 layers of management For a grocery store. That's insane bloat. > reached a point where anybody with real power to make changes has been completely isolated from the public. It's just powerless workers being yelled at by a powerless public. I don't really know how we fix that. Just get groceries delivered.
- 5y ago

munificent 5y ago

I follow a few subreddits dedicated to service industry jobs and the stories you hear there are just absolutely insane. COVID has taken a deep emotional toll on everyone. Then you factor in that the kind of people still going out to restaurants and such during the pandemic are also often the most entitled, least thoughtful segment of the population, and you get some real horror stories. It used to be "here's a story of a shitty tip I got". Now, it's like "I had to call the cops on someone who started throwing chairs when I told him he had to weak a mask." Healthcare is the same. Just story after story of burned out nurses having patients dying of COVID screaming in their face about it being a hoax. I feel so sorry for anyone who's job forces them to deal with people so decoupled from reality.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
I assume many people also looked around at friends and family with computer friendly jobs and saw them be able to work from the comfort of their own home in the event of a public health emergency, while they had to still go out and deal with the public face to face. If I was in their position, I would be demanding a hefty premium for having to leave my house to earn money.
- djohnston 5y ago
  Yeah but it's a labor supply issues, they don't have the leverage to make those demands, at least not yet although hopefully this is changing now.
dexwiz 5y ago
My sister was a hostess for an upscale restaurant and had a gun pulled on her because she asked someone to wear a mask. The worst part, instead of calling the cops or asking them to leave, her managers still had her seat the party. She doesn't work there anymore.
- ekanes 5y ago
  Yikes. Pulling a gun like that is a serious crime, isn't it?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - boring_twenties 5y ago
    Definitely. Simply displaying the firearm is a crime (usually "brandishing"). If he actually pointed the gun at another person, well, IANAL but that sounds like assault with a deadly weapon to me.
- pavon 5y ago
  Honestly, that is probably the best way to defuse the situation and prevent people from being shot. Collect license plates, credit card info, photos etc, and call the police after they have left the building.
  - fundad 5y ago
    I'm sure they did not do any of that
  - cgriswald 5y ago
    Even if that were the case, the manager should be the one seating them. He shouldn't be forcing his victimized employee to seat them.
- logicalmonster 5y ago
  I'm not saying that pulling a gun on anybody for this reason is in any way reasonable or proportional. What happened to your sister sounds horrific and her former-employer sounds awful beyond words. But I have to say, I understand why people asked to mask up in some cases flip out. Does it make sense to anybody that society has somehow decided that the way to be safe in restaurants is to put on a mask so a host can walk you 10-15 feet to your table for 10 seconds where you then proceed to take your mask off for over an hour? The mask ritual especially in this case is dehumanizing performative theater that doesn't make a lick of logical sense. Most people wouldn't be so uptight about the Covid rules when they make any sense: but many of them are beyond nonsensical.
fundad 5y ago
The mass-formation-psychosis among anti-maskers and COVID-19-deniers is so far beyond what we're prepared for.
- ravenstine 5y ago
  Because mass-formation-psychosis can't happen to people who obey.

oramit 5y ago

"Nearly every interaction involves putting yourself in between a company's policy and the person in front of you. You're sort of being paid to be a sacrificial lamb for the company's policies." The grocery store near me has been bleeding workers the past few years and it's reached the point where there are consistently long checkout lines filled with annoyed shoppers even on non busy days. I could complain about the wait to the workers, but what would that do? I could complain to their shift manager, but so what, they don't do the hiring? Maybe I could find the grocery manager, he would probably want more help, but he doesn't control the budget. Now we're at 4 layers of management, the store director, who could increase hiring, but the regional manager wants to juice the numbers for his bonus so maybe I could reach out to the state director... What i'm getting at is it seems like corporate bureaucracy at so many places has reached a point where anybody with real power to make changes has been completely isolated from the public. It's just powerless workers being yelled at by a powerless public. I don't really know how we fix that.

rubiquity 5y ago
> What i'm getting at is it seems like corporate bureaucracy at so many places has reached a point where anybody with real power to make changes has been completely isolated from the public Indeed. I'd even generalize further and say isolated from any of the details which would could lead to positive changes that are actually in line with their thinking. Whether that be they are too far removed from the details or for byzantine reasons the details never make it to them.
kevinventullo 5y ago
You fix it by shopping elsewhere.
908B64B197 5y ago
> Now we're at 4 layers of management For a grocery store. That's insane bloat. > reached a point where anybody with real power to make changes has been completely isolated from the public. It's just powerless workers being yelled at by a powerless public. I don't really know how we fix that. Just get groceries delivered.
5y ago