Not such a happy post today... or I suppose technically it is now tomorrow... I have extremely odd hours because of my job (I work in one of the latest opening bars in Cardiff, and it's extremely popular. In fact, it's far too popular for its own good), and as such, I have adopted the philosophy that it doesn't officially count as night time until you go to sleep. Even if it's daylight outside.
The pic? The reason that Beavis and Butthead are opening up our visual delights is because I've been reminded several times today that people in general when they are going about their daily routine are idiots; Selfish, thoughtless, rude and totally unwilling to engage their brain for just one second. Those of us in the service industry know exactly what I'm talking about, and the problem is especially worse in bars or restaurants; Here's a little sample of the breathtaking levels of customers not always being right, and in some instances, just being plain weird. I've bee a big fan of waiterrant for quite some time now, because it's a well written and entertaining blog, and quite literally, you could not make up some of the stuff I've read on there...
http://waiterrant.net/?p=353
Today I've had to deal with phone calls from people with the most horrendously stupid questions; I've had to deal with a woman telling me that I really shouldn't be working in a bar, because "...not everyone is ok with a bartender who is so obviously an ethnic minority,"; I've had delivery men whose grasp of how invoices work is much less that basic, but most of all, I've had rudeness. And lots of it.
"Two vodka and cokes, yeah? Sort it now, mate."
"What the FUCK? What THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO STELLA?"
"I'm not paying it. I don't care how old the brandy is, I'm not paying £3.50 for a fucking brandy and coke." (after pointing out that said drink would be taken away from him if he did not in fact pay, I was threatened with LEGAL ACTION. Over a fucking drink).
"What's all this 'sir' business? Are you taking the piss?" (This one I really don't get. So many people seem to really lose their rags with me when I'm being ultra polite, and respectful. I work in the sort of place where saying 'sir' is necessary. The last time I called someone 'mate,' the customer complained and I got my arse dragged to the office for a stern warning that these are not our mates, but our "guests and customers." We're supposed to be serving them, not being friendly or familiar."
Go figure.
In a way, customer service is a lot like babysitting; You are paid to look after a bunch of people and keep them happy and largely out of harms way (or at least a pub with less smooth edges). The only difference is that you do this in bars with intoxicants, and they pay you directly for your services, rather than their parents.
Despite desperately needing a drink after today, i decided that the best thing for me to do would be to head straight home and let my brain turn to mush; I successfully managed this with a combination of web comics like Questionable Content ( http://questionablecontent.net/... and the more astute of you will have noticed that my avatar is that of Marten Reed... who is something of a personal hero of mine despite being a fictional character) and Stumble Upon for mains, and for dessert I rounded it off with some Wii related frustration on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, and Super Mario Galaxy.
Customers suck. They really do. And they suck worse because all of them are smart enough to know that without them, no one gets paid.
If you need any more proof of that, then here's one more place to check
http://notalwaysright.com/
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