Grrr
Why is it so hard for people to say please and thank you? Most of my conversations at work go like this:
Me: Hi, how can I help you?
Asshole: I want a room. Two beds. Senior rate.
Me: Okay, with your discount that will be $67.49 plus tax.
Asshole: I'll take it. And I want a first floor room. (slaps their credit card onto the counter and stares off into space)
Me: (as I check them in and I'm making their keys) Okay sir, we have free breakfast here in the lobby from 6 to 9; checkout's at 11.
Asshole: (silence)
Me: Initial here, please, and sign on this-
Asshole: (grabs pen and scrawls signature, slams back on counter)
Me: Thank you! You're in 109, down that hall on the left. Have a nice day!
Asshole: (walks away in silence)
This is probably my biggest pet peeve. I'm tired of being treated like a robot. People are so fucking rude.
When I was little, my dad would ask me "And what do you say?" if someone at a store helped me or gave me stickers or lollipops. And one time when I was about 12, I was with my mom at the library and ran off to ask the lady at the desk where the Sweet Valley High books were. When I got back to my mom, she said to me "Did you tell her thank you? No? Go back and tell her, right now." Stuff like this humiliated me then. But now I'm just so grateful my parents actually raised me to have manners. They've both worked a lot of years in retail and always taught me to be polite to customer service clerks. I would never dream of acting the way some of my customers do.
It's even worse when they do it in front of their kids, because the kids will grow up and act the same way. They're taught that they don't have to be nice to us because we're inferior to them. What a terrible attitude! Sadly, it's rare for me to see a courteous child these days.
One exception I can think of is when I was working at the Rite Aid Drugstore in Utah and I met a young boy, maybe 10 years old. My first encounter with him was in the battery aisle as I was stocking the empty pegs; he walked up to me and said "Excuse me, ma'am, may I please get some assistance at the front register?" I was floored. And he was like that every time he came in, always gracious and well-spoken. It was very surprising coming from a child; he was more mature than most of my adult customers. I met his mom only once (she was very sweet too) and I took the opportunity to let her know how much I appreciated her son and his good manners.
Unfortunately, people like this are rare. I shouldn't let the rudeness bother me so much because it's never going to change. But I find myself gritting my teeth every time a customer walks through my lobby door, because I'm already assuming that they're going to be obnoxious to me.
Maybe the first thing I need is an attitude change.