Bizarre experience
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My first response was "Unbelievable!" But on (relatively) sober reflection I realized that it is not all that unusual. I was one of those minimum wage grunts once upon a time; my tables were spotless within 60 seconds of becoming vacant. And my customers got a heartfelt "Thank you!" as they walked out the door. When I worked as a mechanic at a service station (remember those?), if a gas customer waited two minutes for someone to pump the gas, it was too long. If the attendant was busy with another customer, I dropped my tools and ran - literally - to assist the waiting customer. And I washed the windows, emptied the ash tray, checked the tires and everything under the hood; no charge for topping off the radiator. Where did we go wrong? The Manager may direct my day to day activities, but the customer will always be the boss in my mind - that's who pays my salary, regardless of who signs the check. Christopher Duncan wrote: Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... Can I interest you in something wool? :baaaa!: "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."Roger Wright wrote: The Manager may direct my day to day activities, but the customer will always be the boss in my mind - that's who pays my salary, regardless of who signs the check. Well said! That's an attitude I plan on making popular again. Roger Wright wrote: Can I interest you in something wool? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: How about a nice lambskin WWII fighter jacket? :-D Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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I could have sworn the other day I say the tag for it, :baah!: or something like that, but none of my guesses worked. Given my general attitude towards humanity as a whole, I really think it's an icon I should master. :-D Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
Christopher Duncan wrote: I say the tag for it, :baah!: or something like that, 4 a's. No h. Marc Latest AAL Article My blog Join my forum!
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I thought this story[^] might entertain you guys. There seems to be such a complete disconnect these days between a company and its customers. That, coupled with the pacification of the American consumer (maybe your country, too?) led to a bizarre incident this weekend involving a sub sandwich, an aggressive manager, an uncleaned table and an abusive customer attitude. Are company attitudes about their customers out of hand? Are people really such :baaaa!:? I just couldn't believe what was happening. Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... :rolleyes: Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
The manager was obviously wrong, but to put "Thank you" on a trash bin is not. I don't think most people see the phrase as an attempt at coercion, but rather as thanks from the business for helping to cut costs. It's certainly your right to litter at a fast-food restaurant, but I find the story of your triumphant exit after having successfully left your trash on the table to be faintly silly. "Who are they to dare to ask me, mighty consultant and writer of such acclaimed works as Unite the Tribes, to clean up my garbage?" See what I mean? It's fine if you want to be that way, but that sort of overbearing attitude won't make you popular at parties. I also don't think that it's the duty of fast-food restaurants to provide entry-level jobs. It's not a badly-written article, although I don't think you can leave something "laying" on a table (barring people, geese and other critters). I just don't think that almost anyone will really agree with you on a gut level, and I don't understand what you're after. Are you really trying to make masses of people indignant that the words "Thank you" appear on wastebaskets in some low-end joints? Regards, Jeff Varszegi
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:baaaa!: ? Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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Marc Clifton wrote: if there was an employee paid for cleaning up after him, the cost of his sandwich would be higher. I disagree. I'm old enough to remember when "Thank you" started appearing on trash cans. Prices didn't go down as a result of them cutting their labor costs. And at the same time, prices didn't go up in places where customers weren't expected to become free employees. It's just another corporate scam, and a successful one at that. Now how did you get that damned sheep icon to appear? :-) Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
Prices didn't go down, but this is one of the ways that companies can cut costs. In exchange for keeping ther sandwich price down to, say, $3.50, they have one less employee they have to hire that would be cleaning your table. Regards, Brigg Thorp Software Engineer Timex Corporation
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I thought this story[^] might entertain you guys. There seems to be such a complete disconnect these days between a company and its customers. That, coupled with the pacification of the American consumer (maybe your country, too?) led to a bizarre incident this weekend involving a sub sandwich, an aggressive manager, an uncleaned table and an abusive customer attitude. Are company attitudes about their customers out of hand? Are people really such :baaaa!:? I just couldn't believe what was happening. Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... :rolleyes: Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
While I agree that the manager running out after you was really bad, You have to realize that working in anything retail these days is pure hell. Customers have gotten to the point where they expect you to know what they want before they want it and to have it ready for them. Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was bored -
The manager was obviously wrong, but to put "Thank you" on a trash bin is not. I don't think most people see the phrase as an attempt at coercion, but rather as thanks from the business for helping to cut costs. It's certainly your right to litter at a fast-food restaurant, but I find the story of your triumphant exit after having successfully left your trash on the table to be faintly silly. "Who are they to dare to ask me, mighty consultant and writer of such acclaimed works as Unite the Tribes, to clean up my garbage?" See what I mean? It's fine if you want to be that way, but that sort of overbearing attitude won't make you popular at parties. I also don't think that it's the duty of fast-food restaurants to provide entry-level jobs. It's not a badly-written article, although I don't think you can leave something "laying" on a table (barring people, geese and other critters). I just don't think that almost anyone will really agree with you on a gut level, and I don't understand what you're after. Are you really trying to make masses of people indignant that the words "Thank you" appear on wastebaskets in some low-end joints? Regards, Jeff Varszegi
Jeff Varszegi wrote: The manager was obviously wrong, but to put "Thank you" on a trash bin is not. I don't think most people see the phrase as an attempt at coercion, but rather as thanks from the business for helping to cut costs. Our perspectives probably differ because I have over a decade of making a living in sales and marketing, and as a result am more aware of the kind of manipulation that goes on each day in the business world. Jeff Varszegi wrote: mighty consultant ... acclaimed works :laugh: Well, not yet, but that's certainly the goal! Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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While I agree that the manager running out after you was really bad, You have to realize that working in anything retail these days is pure hell. Customers have gotten to the point where they expect you to know what they want before they want it and to have it ready for them. Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was boredMatt Newman wrote: working in anything retail these days is pure hell Especially during the holiday shopping season! :omg: However, from a corporate point of view, if you let your people treat your source of income with blatant disrespect for long enough, that won't be a problem because you'll all be out of a job when the customers takes their business elsewhere... Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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Matt Newman wrote: working in anything retail these days is pure hell Especially during the holiday shopping season! :omg: However, from a corporate point of view, if you let your people treat your source of income with blatant disrespect for long enough, that won't be a problem because you'll all be out of a job when the customers takes their business elsewhere... Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
Christopher Duncan wrote: However, from a corporate point of view, if you let your people treat your source of income with blatant disrespect for long enough, that won't be a problem because you'll all be out of a job when the customers takes their business elsewhere... yep, and we are entering the winter holiday season and I work at a grocery store, it will be hell, till shortly after Jan 1st :sigh: Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was bored -
[edit]oops, I didn't realize you wrote the story. I'll have to change the "he" to "you". Great story, BTW[/edit] Well, while you have a point, the other side of the coin is that, if there was an employee paid for cleaning up after you, the cost of your sandwich would be higher. So, in a sense, you ARE being paid to clean up after yourself, because you are paying LESS for your meal. Marc Latest AAL Article My blog Join my forum!
Marc Clifton wrote: you are paying LESS for your meal Except that somebody now has to watch the customers and report them to the trash police when they don't clean up after themselves. I'm with Chris on this on. Just as bizarre, is the fact that the owner could have just as easily gone and cleaned up the table in all the while that he was berating his customer for not doing it. Chris Meech It's much easier to get rich telling people what they want to hear. Chistopher Duncan But for a man, barbecuing eggplant and portobello mushrooms is a sure way to have people question your sexual orientation. Kuro5hin I can't help getting older, but I refuse to grow up. Roger Wright
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Christopher Duncan wrote: However, from a corporate point of view, if you let your people treat your source of income with blatant disrespect for long enough, that won't be a problem because you'll all be out of a job when the customers takes their business elsewhere... yep, and we are entering the winter holiday season and I work at a grocery store, it will be hell, till shortly after Jan 1st :sigh: Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was boredMatt Newman wrote: yep, and we are entering the winter holiday season and I work at a grocery store Yikes. You're a braver man than I... Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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I thought this story[^] might entertain you guys. There seems to be such a complete disconnect these days between a company and its customers. That, coupled with the pacification of the American consumer (maybe your country, too?) led to a bizarre incident this weekend involving a sub sandwich, an aggressive manager, an uncleaned table and an abusive customer attitude. Are company attitudes about their customers out of hand? Are people really such :baaaa!:? I just couldn't believe what was happening. Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... :rolleyes: Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
What a moron. You should have sat there on your car hood for at least 30 minutes just looking in at him. Or maybe you should have gone up to the window and stared in at him for a while. That would have freaked him out.
"We have done so much in the last 2 years, and it doesn't happen by standing around with your finger in your ear, hoping everyone thinks that that's nice." - Donald Rumsfeld
Jason Henderson
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What a moron. You should have sat there on your car hood for at least 30 minutes just looking in at him. Or maybe you should have gone up to the window and stared in at him for a while. That would have freaked him out.
"We have done so much in the last 2 years, and it doesn't happen by standing around with your finger in your ear, hoping everyone thinks that that's nice." - Donald Rumsfeld
Jason Henderson
blog:laugh: Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was bored -
Matt Newman wrote: yep, and we are entering the winter holiday season and I work at a grocery store Yikes. You're a braver man than I... Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
Christopher Duncan wrote: You're a braver man than I... Not brave, broke OT: Oddly enough though, I have gotten so used to constantly working, that I actually have nothing to do when I do get a day off. I though college was supposed to be about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Not being addicted to work :sigh: Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was bored -
Christopher Duncan wrote: You're a braver man than I... Not brave, broke OT: Oddly enough though, I have gotten so used to constantly working, that I actually have nothing to do when I do get a day off. I though college was supposed to be about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Not being addicted to work :sigh: Matt Newman
I am the anti-linux "If you're Master Chief and you're facing the Flood, grab a shotgun and save the last checkpoint" - Me, cause I was boredMatt Newman wrote: I though college was supposed to be about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. You should join a band. That way you don't have to pay for the sex and drugs, and you get paid for the rock & roll. :-D Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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What a moron. You should have sat there on your car hood for at least 30 minutes just looking in at him. Or maybe you should have gone up to the window and stared in at him for a while. That would have freaked him out.
"We have done so much in the last 2 years, and it doesn't happen by standing around with your finger in your ear, hoping everyone thinks that that's nice." - Donald Rumsfeld
Jason Henderson
blogIt was a mighty temptation... ;) Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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:wtf:!! I don't know Christopher, maybe you shouldn't have publicized this. What if that manager is a part time programmer. A little Google work and he's got your license plate # and your name! The idea of multiple employees standing in an empty restaurant yelling at the customer to do their work is way too amusing. One of them wasn't John Cleese was he?
Stephen Owens wrote: One of them wasn't John Cleese was he? Hmmm. I shifted dimensions and ended up in Faulty Towers? :-) Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
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My first response was "Unbelievable!" But on (relatively) sober reflection I realized that it is not all that unusual. I was one of those minimum wage grunts once upon a time; my tables were spotless within 60 seconds of becoming vacant. And my customers got a heartfelt "Thank you!" as they walked out the door. When I worked as a mechanic at a service station (remember those?), if a gas customer waited two minutes for someone to pump the gas, it was too long. If the attendant was busy with another customer, I dropped my tools and ran - literally - to assist the waiting customer. And I washed the windows, emptied the ash tray, checked the tires and everything under the hood; no charge for topping off the radiator. Where did we go wrong? The Manager may direct my day to day activities, but the customer will always be the boss in my mind - that's who pays my salary, regardless of who signs the check. Christopher Duncan wrote: Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... Can I interest you in something wool? :baaaa!: "Your village called -
They're missing their idiot."Roger Wright wrote: Where did we go wrong? We went wrong when you joined a union, demanded health insurance, higher wages, sick time, paid vacations, maternity leave, and so on and so forth (ah, now maybe that's what defines a country as not being third world) and after getting all those things, you still sued the company for giving you cancer when you worked with all those carcinogens at the gas station, and your tree hugger pro-environmental group that you contributed money to is suing the your company as well for dumping all that old oil into the nearby watershed. "You", not meaning "you" personally, but the opposite of "we". Of course, a better explanation is simply "greed". But greed doesn't explain everything away. Marc Latest AAL Article My blog Join my forum!
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I thought this story[^] might entertain you guys. There seems to be such a complete disconnect these days between a company and its customers. That, coupled with the pacification of the American consumer (maybe your country, too?) led to a bizarre incident this weekend involving a sub sandwich, an aggressive manager, an uncleaned table and an abusive customer attitude. Are company attitudes about their customers out of hand? Are people really such :baaaa!:? I just couldn't believe what was happening. Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... :rolleyes: Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
LOL OK the manager was/is an idiot. We are all agreed with that. I think that putting 'Thank You' signs on rubbish containers is more than just cutting costs. I believe it is about getting customers to believe they are actually part of the business, and are helping in a small way. Possiblly some people actaully gain pleasure in doing what they think is the right thing to do. Personally I never clean a table at one of those places, as I believe I'm doing someone else out of a job. In business you must always consider the customer as the boss. And you endeavour to provide what the customer needs or wants. What to me this story highlights is how general business practices have erroded. Regardz Colin J Davies
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**The minion's version of "Catch :bob: "It's a real shame that people as stupid as you can work out how to use a computer. said by Christian Graus in the Soapbox
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I thought this story[^] might entertain you guys. There seems to be such a complete disconnect these days between a company and its customers. That, coupled with the pacification of the American consumer (maybe your country, too?) led to a bizarre incident this weekend involving a sub sandwich, an aggressive manager, an uncleaned table and an abusive customer attitude. Are company attitudes about their customers out of hand? Are people really such :baaaa!:? I just couldn't believe what was happening. Maybe I should sell the leather jacket... :rolleyes: Chistopher Duncan The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success RSS feed - Show Programming news & notifications
On a side note, don’t worry about the license plate: When I did not have a son and could take the risk a traffic struggle (some people here drive carrying weapons), for a few times I met people who I would like to be *really* angry, so I did the following thing: 1. Get down from my car 2. Get to the front of his/her car (so I could be clearly noticed) and with a very calm and quiet face took note of the license plate. People had the same reaction than you and my answer normally was either an evasive one like he did to you, or "I work on the traffic dept., I'm on a vacation right. I don't want to talk to you right now, but as soon as I get back to work, you'll get some tickets at your home, then we can talk“. Man, people got really worried. A woman once said: “Oh, yeah, so I will take your license plate number, too!” And I said: “If I see you doing this you’ll receive two tickets more.” And she got into her car, very angry and revolted, saying she would call a lawyer because I was abusing from my authority. Not a single person asked for some kind of ID: they were all doing traffic violations and thought they were on a bad luck day. Trying to make bits uncopyable is like trying to make water not wet. -- Bruce Schneier By the way, dog_spawn isn't a nickname - it is my name with an underscore instead of a space. -- dog_spawn