After reading Sound Wave's earlier threade about the douche Blockbuster customer, it got me thinking about issues I have had instilling manners and courtesy into some of my back of the house employees (those who rarely, if ever, see customers). Case in point - two seperate, younger employees we hired a few months ago, come to my manager's doorway; my office is right next door. The door is closed, with my manager talking - he was on a conference call - and yet the barge in and start talking loudly about things that have no bearing whatsoever on any aspect of their job. We have another employee who will come up to one of the offices and just start talking and interrupt whether I am on the phone or having a meeting. Most of the time he wants nothing. Just being rude and discourteous. I have just noticed over the past few years, from both employees and customers, there tends to be less and less focus on being courteous, polite, etc. Manners seem to be out the window in many cases. Anyone else see this/feel this way?
I know what ya mean. We have this talk about once a year about getting on the right track. It's all about knowing when to joke around and when to get your stuff done. I'm really bad about it when the day isn't going so well. But that doesn't mean that everyone else needs a break.
Manners (in general) are, by and large, atypical these days. Strangely, my 3 year old and 19 month old both understand when and how to use terms like "please" "thank you" and "you're welcome". My 3 year old will also use "excuse me".
That's great. Means you are teaching your kids right, so kudos for you! I think a large part has to do with the instant gratification lifestyle we lead and the influence TV, especially reality tv, has on our kids. I mean, I am 29 and when I was younger, if I even THOUGHT about talking back to my Mom, or Grandmom, or whomever, I would get b*tchslapped through the door.
I do the absolute best I can to be a good person, whether it being the role of customer or employee. But I have to say, most of the rudeness these days on part of employees have to do with rudeness and/or stupidity of customers. Granted, that's no excuse to be rude...I'm just saying, most of the time employees have to deal with real idiots so every once in a while they should be forgiven a slip of the tongue. In general, I believe that even if you feel as the customer that an employee is wrong/stupid/annoying you should stay polite and remember what they have to deal with.
It all comes down to bad parenting on their parts. My daughter is only 5 months and I'm already teaching her please, and thank you, and I say bless you when she sneazes.
Everything today boils down to bad parenting... Back when I was a kid, if your parents thought something was too violent (say...a VIDEO GAME) you didn't own it...PERIOD. They didn't buy it for you, none of your relatives bought it for you, none of your friends bought it for you. If you bought it yourself? They took it away. End of story!! No one bitched and moaned about censorship they way they do today. Same thing went with TV and Movies. If it was Rated R and you weren't 17, you didn't see it...end of story. Now a days, most parents are too busy/lazy to be actual parents. They buy innapropriate material because they just want their kid to shut up and they would rather not fight with them about it. People bring their kids to rated R horror movies and come out saying "I can't beleive that, how innapropriate!" No shit lady, you just brought your 6 year olds to see TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, what did you expect???? (True story btw) Finally...this needs to be said...there is no real discipline anymore. "Go have a time out...go to your room" ooh...that teaches them. I want everyone to know that when I have a kid, if they act up they're getting hit...not in the abuse sort of way, but how it was back when I was a kid. You got swatted in the butt, and no one butted in telling you how to raise your kids. Tired of "youth today" then raise them right people...
Even if TV has a bad influence on kids, it's still up to the parent's to moniter what they are watching. Don't blame TV for lazy parents. My mom didn't want me watching Simpsons when I was a kid due to backtalk and language...so guess what? She made sure I didn't watch it. THAT'S being a parent, as opposed to letting the TV raise the kids for you (not you personally, but lazy parents in general)
With my employees I only accept the best behavior. Anything less than that and they get a talking to. If I have a store full of customers, I get on my employees' cases if they are standing behind the counter doing nothing or talking to each other. Case in point, I had an employee on Saturday who I had to tell 3 times to get out from the counter and talk to customers. On the third time, I told him if I had to tell him again within his shift (a mere 4 hours) that I would write him up. He told another associate that I was "rude" to him and that he was quitting after his shift. I immediately pulled him off the floor and spoke with him in the back. He explained he felt he was deserving of better treatment. I told him that I respect his feelings but there's no room for people to be joking around two weeks before Christmas in a toy store. He said he'd work his final week and he needed to trade shifts with another employee to attend a funeral. He didn't call or show up for his crucial Sunday shift. Our paychecks were delayed until Monday and he told another manager that he had told me he was quitting because he had to go to his grandfather's funeral earlier in the week, which was a flatout lie. When he came to get his paycheck, I told him he had to stay in the front of the store. He got an attitude about it and I told him straight up non-employees are not allowed in the back of the store. I found out yesterday he used the same "my grandfather died" excuse a couple of months prior to get out of his last job. I separated his employment with "Job Abandonment" as the reasoning yesterday evening. I'm not paid to be nice, and my employees aren't paid to slack off. If they can't figure that out, I don't want them in my store.
Yeah, that was kinda my point. But, yes, I do blame tv for helping to create lazy parents, on top of said lazy parents being lazy and not getting off their lazy asses to beat their kids when they need it. Regardless of your position, Networks have a social repsonsibility for not showing garbage on tv and for not having crap on when kids are at home watching TV. True it is up tto the parents but I know when I was young we got after school specials and socially-appropriate sitcoms with values attached. Think Family Matters or Saved By the Bell. Unfortunately, the dollar wins out and you get crap on tv that wouldn't have made an R-rated movei 20 years ago. Also, some parents use TV to babysit their kids, or computers, or Video games. When I was little, my dad would send me outside to pick my own switch. If I picked a small one, then he would go outside and find a much bigger one to beat me with. I didn't watch tv or play nintendo for a week. But, remember, TV wasn't what it was 20 years ago. what would be considered risque and edgy then? Dynasty. Today that show and others like it would be lame. Shock value, lack of morals, etc. TV today has very little redeeming quality, and it shows in the behavior patterns of our kids.
I like the way you think, KB. I am often considered the disciplenarian of the management staff at the hotel, yet I believe that rules are rules, treat customers/guests right, and professionalism should come first and foremost. BTW, I want to open my own toy store one day. There are NON but kaybee and one toys r us!
I may not be the most pleasant person here on the net, but in the real would I'm usually very respecting of others.. to a fault actually. When I was working retail I was always very courteous. I don't know how people can just be out and out rude. it takes more effort on my part to be rude then to just be nice.
Good job. Good to see we still have parents raising their kids right. I am still amazed when a 3 year old say please and thank you to me yet their mother or father are complete dicks. I could go on forever in this thread about our new people. Our manager doesn't like to hire but we need to when about 80% of our staff quit in September. I really don't remember ever being as bad as these people. I am the second youngest one at our store. I've been there for 4 years, I'm a shift leader and almost became assistant manager. I'm 21 while the new people hired are 23, 24 or a little older. When they first started out, many simply didn't show up for their shift because they had other jobs or didn't find someone to switch for the shift. One girl, very nice, acts like she is the first person ever to work 2 jobs. She booked an entire weekend because she was having boyfriend troubles so her mom was going to take her to Toronto to see her sister! That pissed me off. We all have troubles, but we deal with them and life. Just the general attitude of kids today sickens me. No respect, no initiative and everything is handed to them. And Kickback, good job with the employees. I need a little more balls when dealing with some of our new people, I'll have to adopt the "I don't get paid to be nice" motto a little more.
I mostly agree with what everyone's saying. KB, good man. As far as TV having responsibility, I disagree. If people didn't watch that crap, they wouldn't show it. Simple as that. It's like an earlier poster said, it's up to the parents, and it all comes down to bad parenting in general. Most parents always want to cast parenting on someone else, whether it's teachers, the government (which I feel tries to parent, which makes it that much worse), and anyone they can dump their kids on. People need to grow the Hell up and take responsibility. I hear people say "oh, it's because I'm a single parent." That's CRAP!! I grew up an only child in a single parent home and as a latch key kid from the time I was 12. Don't give me being a single parent as an excuse or a crutch for being a bad parent or employee. My Mother did it, I turned out a better man for it. Raise your kid's, don't expect or LET others/someone else do it for you. Our society is screwed if things don't change. It's as simple as that.
i work for Dell thats all i see...rude ppl. i dont understand why ppl think that screaming and swearing and threatening is going to get them help. when a customer is rude and ignoramt to me...i don't try to help them out. i do exactly what is in my job description but i wont go the extra mile for that person now someone in the exact situation but is polite and courteous and genuinly thankful for the information iw as able to provide, i will try to go the extra mile and see what else i can do
Neither common courtesy nor common sense are. But yup, that's one thing I love about the service. You will be polite to the people above you, and while you should be courteous to those below you, they don't get to expect it. Makes things much...I don't know, simpler. Clearer. EDIT: I suppose some types of behavior are subjective, though. I fucking hate people wearing hats indoors. I think it's trashy. But I imagine that's more me than most.
.. yea.. i notice it.. i notice it with every new generation of kids.. watching those stupid shows that have kids talking back to their parents because it's cute to the viewer and brings in ratings..then those kids think it's ok to be that way and some just stay that way forever. I've seen customer service go down the tubes (best buy anyone?) and management not caring about it... I've seen CUSTOMERS SO HELLISHLY BITCHY/MEAN/EVIL.. that it can drive me nuts.. walking all over an employee as if they were beneath them.. making them push their carts for them.. yelling at them because of stupid stupid technical crap.. it's all over the place... I know many will disagree... but in my generation.. 5 across the eyes can teach children... whether you believe it or not.
Sometimes there's a necessity to be rude. My garage tried to jerk me around recently, made an arse of the work done to my car and tried to bump me out of half a tank of fuel. Long story short I only got results when I became somewhat irate with the service manager. Although I'll try being polite first a lot of people just jump to being assholes thinking it will get them results.
My worst pet peeve about rude people is when I hold the door for them. Is it so fucking hard to say, "Thank you."?
