Everyday Rudeness-is it normal?

Percy, I had the same experience when I worked a cash register as a summer job a long time ago. Within a couple of weeks you had the prices down for the most commonly bought items. That means, no picking up an item, looking for the price (or the bar code), swiping it, and puttin the itme back down. I just kinda walked my fingers over each item and then moved a whole bunch of them along. Often times pricing the items was much faster than taking them out of the cart and putting them on the belt.Ahh, the good old times. But of course, while the scan registers have made the life at the checkout a little harder, the people that actually take care of the inventory really would not want to have the old registers back. There's nothing like automatically knowing when you are going to run out of an item, or when it needs restocking.

See this is why I like shopping online - I do not have to deal with the staff or other customers. I order my weekly shop and the man drops it off - fantastic. Otherwise I use the stores that allow the customer to scan their own goods - much quicker.One pet peeve for me is the "follower" - if you ask me if I need assistance and I say "no thank you" DO NOT FOLLOW ME AROUND THE STORE. I will come over if I need your assistance.On the other hand - the hospitality sector and shops in the UK pay rubbish money - I'm not surprised the service is so pisspoor in most places.This message has been edited by Charles Knight, 03-Jun-2005 07:22 PM

I must disagree about the self-check lines being quicker.If there is an open line with a human checker, I go there.
I'll beat the pants off anyone checking themselves.Anyway, I'd say that rudeness is on both sides of the "counter."The worst kind of "rudeness" comes from the person on the other end of a phone line that works at a monopolized public utility, whether they work for the gas company, the electric company, the phone company, they all can be as rude as they please, because what am I gonna do, switch electric companies?But really, I've been in all kinds of service jobs. Thank god I am no longer and hopefully never again! But when some pizza delivery guy or someone behind the counter and Burger King is being short or even "rude" I shrug it off. If I were in their shoes, I'd be rude as hell.But "rudeness" is really in the eye of the beholder.
In most circumstances I am like crashfrog.
I'm not in a grocery store to make friends, I didn't walk into your gas station to chat with you about the weather, I want my stuff, you get your money, done!Moving to another town or another state can sometimes have a wierd cultural effect on you. Maybe you're used to chatting with every clerk and every sales rep or whatever like they are your cousin (I don't talk to them either) and you move someplace where the woman behind the counter is NOT going to beam you a smile and say "Howdy! Nice day isn't it... blah blah blah.."Or you're not used to it, and some grocery store checker (no offense ) starts chit chatting about nothing, you don't know what to say. You just kinda smile and roll your eyes and say "yeah, it HAS been hot. Yeah, the bulls DID lose big time." Then sigh, take what you came for and leave confused and a little irritated. This person might use the self-checker machine next time, even if it does take longer.Anyway, it's all a cultural thing.My advice is to just ignore people and only pay attention to them when you have to. But watch out, you might be labeled "rude."

In regards to phoning companies - I ALWAYS tape the conversation (and I inform them of this - "For quality purposes,this conversation is being recorded", many (to their cost) think that I'm having a joke with them but most tend to be both polite and realistic in their answers.

At the store, one customer never says so much as hello to me. He merely barks, "Double Bag It!" Even if his order is light, he is sure by gosh gonna get the two bags that he deserves!One time I stopped a lady who routinely went to our deli, filled her pop for free, and grabbed a dozen napkins on the way out. I asked her if she paid for the pop. She says, "Are YOU the manager? No...I did not think so....and tries to walk out." We have 86'd her from the store...she costs us more money than she makes us.Its not just pop, either...she would routinely steal things.How can anyone justify this? Do they assume that the giant Safeway Corp is making a lot on them? We only clear 4 cents per dollar...which means if they steal $2.00, they profit off of us immensely! Affluent people are as greedy as poverty cases....both expect something for nothing...as if their very existence is for us to serve them! All that we expect is for people to do unto us as we would do unto them if they had a store.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 06-04-2005 01:22 PM