Do you miss every day ordinary service?

[Anonymous]

We have become more tolerant of rudeness in general.

I went to a job interview at the HQ of a government agency last week. I needed to check in with the receptionist. She glared at me silently. When I told her I was there for a job interview, she responded with "So what?".

I don't know why this is acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it just corporate greed? Or can we not find people who want to do the menial jobs anymore? I know very few high schoolers who work “normal” jobs like babysitting and grocery bagging. They are busy on their phones or else doing prestigious resume building volunteer work or paid work. Every barista I know is past college age.

I live in Loudoun County and that is definitely not true of the teens here. Every teen I know (in a nice neighborhood) has a real PT job, including my own. Commonly restaurant or retail. They all tend to work 1-2 shifts a week during the school year and more in summers. FWIW its actually really hard to get babysitting jobs now. I'm not sure why. It seems like young parents rarely go out anymore, or if they do they just take the kids and stick them on iPads? I'm not sure. But the families that my teens babysit for call them just a couple of times a year, which is why they needed to get "real" jobs instead. Babysitting is not steady income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m 55. Life has changed, and not for the better.

I have fond memories of getting all of my Christmas gifts wrapped (for free!) at department stores like Leggett, Miller & Rhodes, Thalheimers, and JC Penney. Sales clerks would ask if they could help you find merchandise, start a dressing room, or bring you another size to try. Yes, lingerie departments had bra fitting ladies.
A department store is where you went as a newly engaged couple to register for gifts. A staff member would help with your selections and make recommendations. Service was given with a smile and people were polite and courteous. Stores were clean, well-stocked, and organized.

Department stores are just one example, but service was better then in all areas of life.

People were just nicer. Now, much of life has gotten to be a slog. It’s very depressing as someone who remembers how things were not so long ago. I think much is to blame - corporate greed, decline of church attendance, changing demographics (diversity really isn’t all that great and hurts communities of all races).

I feed sad for the younger generations.

Yes, wrapping and nice gift boxes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 45 OP, and I've never experienced most of those things. Nor have I ever longed for those things.

I genuinely don't think service is bad these days, but I always approach people with an angle of curiosity, not entitlement.

Curiosity? That’s… patronizing.

Not at all. Entitlement is far more patronizing. I've had much better service and success when I go in to company/service with an "I was wondering" approach, rather than an "I need/I want" approach.

[Anonymous]

I miss having my servant help me squeeze into my corset as the damnable Yankees burn the fields around my family’s huge home.

[Anonymous]

All of this is still happening, OP. You just have to pay for it and get your gas in New Jersey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 45 OP, and I've never experienced most of those things. Nor have I ever longed for those things.

I genuinely don't think service is bad these days, but I always approach people with an angle of curiosity, not entitlement.

Curiosity? That’s… patronizing.

Not at all. Entitlement is far more patronizing. I've had much better service and success when I go in to company/service with an "I was wondering" approach, rather than an "I need/I want" approach.

Maybe interest or politeness are better ways of characterizing this?

[Anonymous]

I was checking out of a store the other night (after having to get on my tippy toes to reach something and thenclear my throat to get the cashier’s attention). I was asked the name of anyone who had helped me today (presumably to enter into the system at checkout). I’m like uhhhh myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it just corporate greed? Or can we not find people who want to do the menial jobs anymore? I know very few high schoolers who work “normal” jobs like babysitting and grocery bagging. They are busy on their phones or else doing prestigious resume building volunteer work or paid work. Every barista I know is past college age.

I live in Loudoun County and that is definitely not true of the teens here. Every teen I know (in a nice neighborhood) has a real PT job, including my own. Commonly restaurant or retail. They all tend to work 1-2 shifts a week during the school year and more in summers. FWIW its actually really hard to get babysitting jobs now. I'm not sure why. It seems like young parents rarely go out anymore, or if they do they just take the kids and stick them on iPads? I'm not sure. But the families that my teens babysit for call them just a couple of times a year, which is why they needed to get "real" jobs instead. Babysitting is not steady income.

I’m not on Loudon but I can’t find a regular babysitter. It’s not my kid, he is well behaved and all sitters have said he is great. Mostly it’s play for a bit and go to bed (no cooking or bath time involved, so it’s easy!). All the kids in the neighborhood of babysitting age are busy doing musical productions, sports, camps, and other activities. I would love to get a once or twice monthly Friday or Saturday night sitter and can’t find one.

[Anonymous]

These things have gone the way of red pistachios, After Eight mints, and payphones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, B00MER.

I'm one, and yes, I remember all that. I also remember that those jobs paid a living wage, so the stuff we bought was considerably more expensive. We ate SPAM and wore hand-me-downs and at out a couple of times a year. And we were solidly middle-class-- my dad was a professor and my mom SAH, mostly. They paid for my college. But a lot of things that people feel entitled to now were luxuries then.

[Anonymous]

There was a time when n parents taught their children manners. That time is no longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really miss baggers at the grocery store. I wonder how I'll be able to manage when I get older.

I don't miss them at all. They generally sucked at bagging. I prefer bagging my own. Left to the baggers I would have 3 items in each bag and 5,000 bags to carry. I pack mine super heavy so I can get it all in one trip. I'm already old and still do this.

I'm a pp that worked in a grocery store in 1994-96.
You might prefer them heavy, but most customers don't. At our store they actually trained us to bag groceries a certain way (like all the cold stuff together, don't put scented things like soap in with the bread, etc.) It was a 4 hour session.

Later on, when I was promoted to cashier, we had a FULL WEEK of training. We had to memorize all the produce codes, trained how to properly process WIC and food stamps (they were both in actual paper form back then), how to process checks (back then, on a typical shift at least half my customers would write a check!) and how to spot fake IDs for alcohol/tobacco sales.

We had to wear a uniform (that we had to purchase ourselves) and weren't allowed extreme nail polish colors (basically you could have clear or pink--no red and definitely no blue/black/purple), hair colors, piercings other than ear lobes, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I miss having my servant help me squeeze into my corset as the damnable Yankees burn the fields around my family’s huge home.

Oh, stop! Black people my age are complaining about the same decline in customer service and maybe even more so. As neighborhoods have gentrified and racially mixed, people actually socialize with their neighbors less and become more suspicious of them. As I said, diversity has hurt neighborhoods of all types. People want to live among people who are like them. It’s a basic human need.

[Anonymous]

Some of those things still happen. My grocery store has baggers and they always ask if you need help to your car. Great, attentive service exists, though it comes at a price usually.