Anyone else encountering ‘spaced out’ service workers?

[Anonymous]

After COVID and since unemployment is so low, you’re not gonna get the best servers.

Also it’s a low paying thankless job where people vote against them getting minimum wage.

If you want good servers fight for their rights.

Otherwise, STFU and order your $18 martini.

[Anonymous]

The eye rolling disinterested chilled out raspy vocal fry voice is literally all a Gen Z act. They see social media influencers and pop stars like Billie Eilish do it and they all parrot it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working these jobs is horrible and usually doesn’t even pay the bills…I wouldn’t begrudge these people a joint before work

I know two middle class high school teens who work in the service industry. They make about $20 an hour and claim they love their jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Working these jobs is horrible and usually doesn’t even pay the bills…I wouldn’t begrudge these people a joint before work

I know two middle class high school teens who work in the service industry. They make about $20 an hour and claim they love their jobs.

Well, they are teens..it's fun to socialize, make 20 an hour and have a cool place to score drugs when you are a teen. By the time you are 25+ it starts to get old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think those in their 20s feel as compelled to make small talk with people. As a hostess, the job is to take your reservation and then to your table. No need to discuss the weather or answer questions.

DH likes to talk to the waitstaff. More and more, they don’t want the small talk. Take your order and bring your food. No entertainment along the way.

I sort of understand their perspective. Customers in restaurants or on vacation tend to be older and financially solvent and that chatty faux bonhomie/noblesse oblige Q&A while you’re trying to work and are worried about your clunker car, making rent, other tables, etc. must be annoying. I think it is natural to feel a little resentful and reluctant to engage in jovial banter.

A lot of service workers in the suburbs are normal MC and UMC high school and college kids living at home. They’re not struggling on the margins.

People don’t go to the suburbs on vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Working these jobs is horrible and usually doesn’t even pay the bills…I wouldn’t begrudge these people a joint before work

Yeah, no.
We all have to start somewhere. I had been in the workforce since age 14 and didn’t make minimum wage until after scraping through college. That was a lot of service jobs. Making minimum wage is absolutely no excuse for being stoned on the job.

This country is absolutely headed down the $hitter with legal weed. In a way I’m almost relieved that virtually all my kids need to do to set themselves apart is to not engage in this stuff and be able to make eye contact and minimal polite conversation.

I agree with legalization in theory, but we might need to do more from a harm-reduction standpoint. Acknowledging that smoking weed has a lot of downsides is a start.

I hate how there are so many whiners out there demanding handouts when all they really need to do is not screw up their lives with dumb choices.

Per capita productivity is going down and overall demand and expectations are going up. It is all going to hit the fan some day soon when our government can no longer solve the problem by taxing earners and printing money.

[Anonymous]

It's probably those thc vape pens. They can sneak hits in the bathroom and there is no smell. Millions of kids get stoned right at home in their room and the parents are completely in denial about it.

[Anonymous]

Fun times are DCUM> Three pages of classism and anecdotal evidence.
The restaurant business has always been notorious for drug use, so that is nothing new.

What is new is a bunch of harpies online who can broadcast their latest political peeve (legal marijuana, higher minimum wage, tipping culture!) in yet a new context.

All while sound like out of touch snobs who think their anecdotes mean anything.

[Anonymous]

What? No, all of the service workers aren't on drugs. They are underpaid and struggling financially and having to deal with the public, and that is exhausting. They don't give a damn, and why would they?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think those in their 20s feel as compelled to make small talk with people. As a hostess, the job is to take your reservation and then to your table. No need to discuss the weather or answer questions.

DH likes to talk to the waitstaff. More and more, they don’t want the small talk. Take your order and bring your food. No entertainment along the way.

I worked in restaurants from my late teens through my mid-twenties and I provided good, attentive, upbeat customer service because *that was my job*. I am a millennial so this wasn’t that long ago. What happened to taking pride in doing a job well?? It’s infuriating and a large part of why my family has pretty much entirely eliminated going out to eat.

[Anonymous]

Honestly unless they are ignoring me, I don’t care if they are super friendly. It is very much an American thing to want retail/service people to kiss your butt when providing a service. It’s not the pot. It’s people not bending over backwards anymore for crap pay. As a Gen-Xer, I’m glad Gen Zers are challenging some of the BS American work culture BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think those in their 20s feel as compelled to make small talk with people. As a hostess, the job is to take your reservation and then to your table. No need to discuss the weather or answer questions.

DH likes to talk to the waitstaff. More and more, they don’t want the small talk. Take your order and bring your food. No entertainment along the way.

I worked in restaurants from my late teens through my mid-twenties and I provided good, attentive, upbeat customer service because *that was my job*. I am a millennial so this wasn’t that long ago. What happened to taking pride in doing a job well?? It’s infuriating and a large part of why my family has pretty much entirely eliminated going out to eat.

What happened is that you can’t pay your bills with pride. What also happened is that customers— obviously not all customers— got more entitled. A low paying job that isn’t fun that comes with limited benefits or job security, plus significant ongoing hazards.

[Anonymous]

Surfside in Tenlytown is the worst. The lights are on but clearly nobody is home. It’s so bad. they don’t even realize that words are not coming out of their mouths, those that do are curt, unfriendly and mostly non responsive. Mostly they just stare blankly and you can almost see them trying to process what you are saying/asking. I feel terrible for the kitchen/bus staff because they are hustling but the front desk and wait staff are either dim or stoned out of their trees.

[Anonymous]

stoned service workers is not new. I worked at a pizza shop and one driver took pills, two cooks were always stoned and the others maybe have been straight but sometimes we started drinking daiquiris at 9pm. Everybdy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think those in their 20s feel as compelled to make small talk with people. As a hostess, the job is to take your reservation and then to your table. No need to discuss the weather or answer questions.

DH likes to talk to the waitstaff. More and more, they don’t want the small talk. Take your order and bring your food. No entertainment along the way.

I worked in restaurants from my late teens through my mid-twenties and I provided good, attentive, upbeat customer service because *that was my job*. I am a millennial so this wasn’t that long ago. What happened to taking pride in doing a job well?? It’s infuriating and a large part of why my family has pretty much entirely eliminated going out to eat.

You poor thing. I play the tiniest violin for you.