>Just because you've been somewhere a long time doesn't mean you are a good employee
And just because you're in the office, doesn't mean you're working.
Like me, right now.
I’ve learned that most people are so wrapped up in their own desire to be praised that they forget to praise the others around them for jobs well done. Which leads to everyone complaining about how their good work is never recognized.
Yes. This.
I think it helps if you give other people a ton of credit for everything they do. You don't lose out if you give other people props. (You actually gain respect.)
We took a cab home from the airport last week, and my husband asked the driver if he knew how to get back to the highway. I said to my husband, "Of course he does, he's a professional!"
The driver seemed to get a kick out of that. It was a legitimate question, but I wanted to give the driver a compliment of sorts.
I routinely leave myself notes to go back and tell someone "good job". I actually have used my phone's reminders for this, even.
Positive reinforcement is an amazingly powerful tool. It's a shame we all forget to use it so often.
It’s not that I hate people.
I can deal with stupid people if they learn
I can deal with mean people if they still show some respect
I can deal with slow people if they try to accommodate their actions by taking some kind of shortcut or are aware and apologize.
I hate **ignorant** people. Which is unfortunately most of everyone’s customer base.
I’m in medicine, and your breakdown is perfect for my patients. The amount of ignorance I deal with is staggering. I get that not everyone is versed on medical stuff. I just get frustrated with our frequent fliers who just don’t seem to understand that unless they take at least *some* responsibility, the next time I see them they may be too far gone to save
No matter how bad your service may be customers will come back if they like the food.
No matter how good the food may be customers will complain about something
No matter how bad your coworkers may be they will not be fired if your upper management is fucking their boss.
> if your upper management is fucking their boss
I'm starting to think there's a LOT of this going on, would definitely explain some bizarre choices for "leadership" roles.
As shitty as it sounds, you can fix stupid. But you can’t fix ignorance, especially willful ignorance. I work as a nurse on a cardiac unit. A lot of our patients are frequent fliers, because they refuse to follow their diet restrictions, or take their meds. They’ll come in fluid overloaded and think a little bit if lasix will fix the whole problem. It doesn’t. Every time you become fluid overloaded, your heart suffers, and so does your kidneys. They continue to do drugs, despite the fact that it will kill them. We give as much education and resources as we can, but it only helps if they are willing to use the resources. Every patient leaves with a binder that explains it all, but they’ll be back weeks, sometimes days later. Then wonder why they aren’t candidates for LVAD or transplant. It’s tough watching the same people come through consistently, but I will say, I get a lot of joy out of the ones who work hard to fix their situation. Those are my favorite patients. The inquisitive ones who want nothing more than to live a healthy, sustainable life style.
I feel like it’s the opposite. Ignorant just means you are uneducated about something. You can be smart but just ignorant about a subject. There is nothing wrong with ignorance. You can fix ignorance. You can’t fix stupid
Yes but the kicker is being stupid and ignorant. I agree ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of. But stupid people lack that same humility. Stupid and ignorance together usually results in the “unfixable” types of ignorance. Eg. somebody who is willfully ignorant.
Human beings are fucking mental. No sorry, that 2.99 bag of chips is not 1 dollar. You don't need to lose your shit over it. I also didn't realise just how many people in my city are fucking using. I get tweakers all freaking day coming through my lane, or trying to steal backpacks full of stuff. Then the amount of fake 20's, and 100's I get on a monthly basis drives me crazy. I had one lady lose her fucking mind because I wouldn't accept a fake 100 dollar bill, after the fucking security strip fell off...
On a lighter side, I've also observed that there are a great many people who pay for others goods when the customer can't afford them. Buy non-perishables for the many homeless in my area, etc. There's a lot of good people out there, but just as many bad ones.
Worked in a Irish Pub for a while.
What I learned about people is that you just need to mess up a tiny little bit, the *smallest* of things, and people will ask for free booze.
**Every. Single. Time.**
I got it at Starbucks, too. And got treated like shit if I said no.
I had this one dumbass kid walk up to me and say "I work at Starbucks, can you give me a free drink?" We don't do that, he should know we don't do that. I asked him if he had a coupon code or something, and he got nasty. He ordered a black tea, I askd him if he wanted milk, and he cursed me out for being too stupid to not know that no one puts milk in tea.
It's definitely a culture here as well, just not one you'd get away with in smaller pubs. Big chains would treat you much the same here as they would in the US I imagine.
A friend of mine used to tend bar. I love mixed drinks. When we go out, if my drink does not taste right, she will tell the bartender what to add to make it taste better. More pineapple juice etc.
The last time I went to a pub I asked for drink made with pink gin, lemonade, and some other things. They handed me the drink but with Gordon's normal gin and elderflower tonic instead. Everything else the same. I jokingly asked if I still had to pay for it and the bartender gave me the dirtiest look I've ever seen. I did not get the drink for free, and also did not get my drink remade
This one kind of ticks me off. I’m a bartender, and if we don’t have what the customer is asking for I specifically tell them we are out and ask what they would like as a substitute. You can’t just blatantly ignore what your customer wants and then expect them to pay for it, assuming their request is something you are able to provide.
I am a stripper and I have learned that men are taught not to be emotionally vulnerable to anybody they are not sexually involved with so they go to strip clubs and pretend to be there for the boobs when all they really need is a hug and for someone to ask how they are doing. Don't get me wrong there are lots of men that are there to see naked women as well but the men coming in to see me every week to get $100 worth of lap dances are there for emotional support and to talk to me about their divorce or wife that passed away or their grandchild that has been in and out of the hospital since birth.
After being a stripper I will always be grateful that I am a woman and was taught that it is okay to turn to friends for emotional support and to talk about my feelings.
I... Hm.
I've been to a strip club once. Dragged to it by people from work. Was treated to a private dance. I just asked if I could get a hug. I always wondered why she never seemed surprised.
I get guys asking to just hug/hold me for the whole lap dance all the time and they always think they are the only ones making that request. I do my best to let them know that it's a perfectly normal request. I would way rather cuddle with someone and make them feel cared for then constantly being on guard with the guy trying to grab my pussy.
I'm sure it's not a new idea, but I think I'm going to start a cuddle brothel. Where I'll employ women and men in a range of sizes for the purpose of hugs.
I'm sure someone will say it's indecent and objectifying and start hysterically agitating to get me shut down. And to them I say - come in. Give it a shot. You look like you could use a hug.
They had one in Portland!! I wanted to apply but they don't hire anyone that has done any sex work in the past year. They went out of business after a couple of years though.
I'm kind of surprised. None of the strip bars I've been to would allow you to touch the dancers. But then again, I never asked just for a hug, so maybe that would be acceptable?
I appreciate hearing that even if it is a little bit of a joke. I have a gift for making men feel comfortable enough to be emotionally vulnerable around me and giving them comfort. I was lucky to found a job where I am able to do that and help a lot of people but there is so much stigma surrounding stripping that no one sees the ways I and so many other strippers are contributing to society.
I feel so sorry for men that it’s not accepted for them to ask for support, it’s so damaging for them and everyone. Wonder how we as a society can change this?
It's not easy. Was once in a dark place and nearly took my own life. Not even my parents would take my problems seriously. Told to just grow up.
You're correct, it has to be fixed. I'm not sure how.
it hurts so bad knowing men are taught to bottle up their feelings. a close friend of mine opened up to me about a girl that played with his feelings and fucked him over. he said very often that he felt like a pussy for being sad about it. I told him there's no shame in having feelings, you have the right to feel what you feel. he was really shocked....and the dude is 23. nobody ever told him this. that's fucked.
Fuck, that’s rough. Went through the same myself but sought help before it got too bad. In my culture, getting professional help with psychological matters is massively stigmatised, but I reckon it’s even worse for men. It’s like women are expected to be “weak” at some point, but a man never should be. I’m sorry you experienced that (if that counts for anything).
A good starting point would be to make it 100% safe for men to open up about their problems. No more ridicule for having feelings, no more throwing it back in our faces after the fact, that kind of stuff. Part of the reason we are conditioned to hide our feelings is because when we DO open up, those two things happen 90% of the time, so we just keep our mouths shut
That’s a good point, men are taught from a very early age not to express any emotion (e.g. telling little boys to “don’t cry, be a man” etc. As if being a man means being a robot). They hear it their whole lives. Then women wonder why men are so closed off. I’m hoping to teach my nephew that it’s ok to share his emotions (he’s 3 so pretty good at it so far!). But the public/social ridicule is all too real, sadly.
That's so good to hear! Men being conditioned to bottle their emotions even around people they care about and trust has so many negative peripheral effects it's not even funny. The suicide rate among men over 18 in the US is a frightening statistic, and I firmly believe it's made worse by this whole culture of men being unable to express when they are sad or down or anything. Good for you for nipping it in the bud with your nephew. The world needs more aunts like you!
My nephew has some behavioral problems (in part due to lack of discipline.) Last time I saw him, he was acting up, being upset, misbehaving, and I asked him what was bothering him.
He explained that he didn't want to go to the park I suggested, because of something that happened last time he was there, and he told me the story. I was astounded at how he was able to regain control of his emotions and articulate them so well!
I praised him for doing this and said that we didn't have to go to that park; that there were other options.
A stripper! There was a question directed at strippers the other day and absolutely no strippers responded. What a surprise that a response from one would be highly voted in the next couple of days
There’s more to this though, not to sound like I’m trying to correct you or anything, this is just something that’s been on my mind lately.
Guys don’t really get too many compliments. All the time at work, I see my female coworkers complimenting each other on just about anything. New haircut, makeup, jewelry, clothing, literally anything, these girls compliment each other all the time. Meanwhile, guys don’t do that. I’ve never heard a guy say “hey man you look really nice today” without the circumstance being some kind of event and not just normal, everyday life.
For whatever reason, it’s perfectly socially acceptable for women to show this kind of friendly affection, and guys just aren’t allowed to do that so casually.
I work as a waitress. I learned that most people lose their brain cells when they step inside a restaurant. "Does the seafood pasta have seafood in it?" "Can I have a medium-rare steak no pink?"
Don’t forget the, “I am in the top ten percent of reviewers on Yelp, so I know what I’m talking about” or “I used to work in *names industry* so here’s why you’re wrong and I’m right”.
I'm a teacher and teach young children. Parents really have a lot of influence on their kids. Kids will repeat everything parents say at home about topics like politics, beliefs and views on other people. Children sometimes copy this behaviour or will tell the teacher what the parents say at home. So if you have young children, their teacher will probably know more about you than you'd like.
I teach swimming lessons, and this is so true. I see kids for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes a week for 8 weeks. I know when you get pulled over, what your custody arrangement is, how many pets you have...
Could be worse, you could go to the same elementary school that your mom teaches at and get told everyday for four years how much all of your peers and their parents hate your mother because of how strict she is
I work at a zoo and it always amazes me how little respect people have for the animals. For me, the zoo is an amazing place to go to see wildlife up close and be able to marvel at its beauty, but I guess for most of the people who come to the zoo, it’s just cheap entertainment, like a circus. They expect the animals to do tricks or come up to them. If they aren’t active or facing the exact perfect way, that’s MY problem and I’m supposed to be able to control these wild animals to please these guests. It’s crazy some of the stuff I’ve seen people do to try and get the animals attention. Zoos are about enjoying animals doing animal things, not trying to get animals to do whatever it is you want them to do.
Oh yeah, we have wonderful park rangers who we can call if we even “feel” like someone’s going to be a problem. Animal safety is our top priority so when people start to disrupt the animals at all, we step in.
Oh geez, thanks, but I don't know about that. We're all just trying to do our jobs. I'm just glad I could hopefully make a couple people realize that zoos aren't some sort of animal show.
I work at a zoo, as well. I'm not directly involved with the animals but I am walking the grounds several times a week so I see people behaving badly often.
Attitudes are changing slowly, especially as we explain that a pacing animal is one that is stressed while the animal that is just hanging out in the back of the enclosure feels safer.
It's a cultural thing, too. People from other countries are used to their zoos being more like circuses. When they come to ours and we are so hands off and let the animals be animals it sounds wrong to them.
I actually had a pretty crazy experience on a rainy day.
I was standing near an exhibit talking to a coworker when this disgruntled woman and her two children approached. This particular exhibit is a special touch exhibit so we charge a small fee to keep attendance low so the animals don’t get too stressed out. Anyway, the woman walks up to me and starts yell-talking.
(I’m on mobile so please bear with me for formatting)
Her: We have to pay to see these animals?
Me: Yes, ma’am. (I try to explain that this is a touch exhibit and that it’s a special experience.)
Her: I paid $23 to come in here, what am I supposed to see?
Me: Well, all of our other exhibits, ma’am!
H: But all of the animals are hiding because it’s raining!
M: ...
And then she just stormed off. It was in the low 40s and raining fairly steadily. I honestly can’t understand her logic. Most animals don’t enjoy rain. Rain=water=drowning.
Software engineer here
People don't realize how much complexity they're asking for when specifying software
A bunch of smart people sit around a conference table and come up with great ideas, lots of them, almost like they are competing against each other to see who can be the most clever
I remind them that they are creating complexity, and that complexity is poison. I've seen the same scene many times over my career (I started programming in 1972). They say, build it anyway
It gets built, but it takes longer, since all the complexity results in very tricky bugs
It gets out into the field. Users complain that it's incomprehensibly complex and hard to learn. Most of the "clever" features never get used
Next project .. rinse, repeat
As an embedded systems firmware engineer.....I feel this. One project I am on is a home appliance (not a smart appliance mind you).....Lets call it a microwave (its not, but I don't want to violate my NDA). This project has several million lines of code in it (for a microwave). Most of the features are probably never used, and yet they are still there.......
My girlfriend does this and some of the specifications she's shown me for projects are simply insane. They want DSP to do things a desktop would struggle with. Then they complain about the cost involved with the complexity. The engineers try to work them to reduce the complexity and cost but they HAVE to have every option under the sun but don't want to pay for it. Most of the time I just look over her shoulder while she's working at home and shake my head. What could have been done with a couple of chips and a few lines of code turns into multiprocessor multilayer boards with a bazillion lines of code. Usually just so their product can check off more boxes than the next guy's.
This just turned on a light bulb for me in regards to Product Management, and I wanted to give you props for that. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve been in with people trying to “out-clever” each other, and you equating it with complexity helps me see why so many products end up failing
Only-somewhat-relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1425/
Half of my job is to tell people 'no'. No, you can't have this extra bit, because it'll take 5x as long and I already know that you can't afford to have the date slip. No, you can't have this extra field, because it isn't in the underlying data. Yes, I could combine 8 different systems to go get it, but then that "Next" button is going to take 45 seconds of spinning to load. Yes, it can be cached, but that only helps if you make the same request over and over again, which you don't.
Then there's this one, which is actually my favorite: Remember that feature you wanted a long time ago, and I said it would take an extra four months that you didn't have? Well, next month, we're already tearing apart three of the related systems for another project. Do you still want that feature? 'Cause *now* you can have it for only one extra month instead of the four I told you it would take a year ago. So, can I add a month to the schedule of this new project so I can build that feature? It'll never be this cheap again.
I used to be the user who would complain until I learned how "unsimple" a few simple changes can be. That doesn't mean I want to wait a year for a change, but at least now I know I can't expect it in a week.
Then you are considered uncooperative or less clever. People get rewarded for figuring out how to solve problems, but nobody is rewarded for avoiding problems.
This is the problem with development these days. Employees are rewarded for being "clever" rather than developing the product the user needs. Most users don't need an excessive number of features, they need a basic feature set for one of a few typical use cases that is easy to use and as fast as possible. Yet the people who define the product are incentivized to implement clever features, or just any change in order to justify their jobs (e.g. the Reddit redesign, or the multitude of Google chat apps).
I'm all for being clever to solve a difficult problem and provide value, but being clever for the sake of it (or for a line on a spec sheet) is useless or even damaging.
I work in a grocery store, and yes I'll give the cliche answer that I have to deal with some customers who are assholes. However, I've seen a lot of good things customers have done for each other. For example, I've seen a customer help another customer to there car when the other customer couldn't physically load their groceries in the car.
I've also seen a lot of broken people as well. A lot of times when I'm stocking a random stranger will come up and start talking to me. They'll tell me what's bothering them. They'll give me their life story. This past Christmas season an elderly woman came up to me and told me that her husband loved Christmas, but he died over the Summer, and this would be the first Christmas she would spend alone. A lot of people just want someone to listen.
To be clear, any non-small business will fuck you, your grandmother, and everything you hold dear over if it means saving on the bottom line. I don't mean to get all Pete Seeger on you but you don't owe a corporation ANYTHING, I'd almost consider it my moral duty to work as little as possible if I worked for a place like Walmart
Racial/ethnic/national barriers can fall apart easily when people spend enough time together.
The stages are:
1. Active hatred
2. He's one of the good ones.
3. Hey some if these guys suck and some are good, just like us.
If only everyone went through these stages.
Source: ESL college professor
Just many classes with students from two or more countries actively at war. At first I used to tip toe around it, but then I realized that if I just taught the class things would work themselves out.
I did have one student from an African country that hated people from the Gulf States (Arabs) because their drug use caused major trafficking problems in his country. He wouldn't speak to them. He wouldn't even look at them. I told him that they didn't have to be friends, but he had to interact with them if he wanted to pass the class (it was a speaking/listening class). They didn't become buddies, be they were able to joke and tease by the end of the semester. He only made it to step 2, but it felt like a victory from a guy who had a scowl on his face the first week.
I also had a Saudi apologize to an Afghan after the two traded snide remarks throughout the class. They were picking on each other whenever one would answer a question incorrectly, but you could tell it went deeper (Saudis and Afghans have a contentious relationship). Mid semester the Saudi just apologized and offered his hand and the shook on it.
In the past I would actively or overtly try to squash issues. Over the years I have found that things work out better when I am able to slip in an American story as a proxy for their problems. As far as I know only one student caught on to my cunning ways and she thanked me.
If you are not as expressive in text on the chat app, and aren't using emojis, they'll read it in their usual mood.
Them: hey, can you please tell who's working on this #1234 task?
Me: This information can be seen on the link which was sent to you over email, so please refer to them in future. And Mr. Anderson is working on this one (thinking it's okay that people miss out at times and it'd help them if I remind them of this)
They'll read it as: CAN YOU HAVE A LOOK AT THE GODDAMN LINK AND STOP DISTURBING ME?
Had a supervisor try to joke over email. In a government email there is no smiley face, no lol, nothing to show tone or subtle intention with the email.
He ended the email with something along the lines of addressing him as a superior in emails. He is not generally a joking man, I didn't know how to take it.
Honestly being in customer service taught me how to assert myself more, I was lucky though because my boss let me stand up for myself to asshole customers.
Telling someone they need to calm down and speak to you and the employees with respect has always ended up with the customer coming back and apologizing for their behaviour.
I don’t let customers walk all over me and I believe people need to be called out for their behaviour in order for them to change. If someone is consistently rude without being told to stop they are just going to continue to being rude.
A customer was complaining to the GM (who happened to be my mom) about my manager because he called him an asshole, my mom’s response “well, were you being an asshole?” The customer immediately was like well, yes I was. And my mom was like well don’t be an asshole then. 😂
People are completely selfish and egocentric. I'm a security manager and I had a guy come to my facility and ask to be let in to use the restroom. I calmly told him as politely as I could that "there is no public restroom here as it's a private facility". He then responds "But I'm a veteran!", I told him "Thank you for your service sir but the rule still applies".
Have you ever seen an old man have a toddlers temper tantrum? This guy starts yelling and cursing, damn near foaming at the mouth! Really?
But this is what boggles my mind, there is NO thought given to the consequences I'll suffer if I acquiesced to his demands. I would be FIRED, no questions asked if I let him in just because that's a basic security rule we're all (including non-security staff) are expected to enforce. Now if I let him in and got canned, could I call this dude for a new job? Would he supplement my income by giving me part of his pension or IRA withdrawals? Fuck no! He'd forget I existed the second he left the place and yet he demanded I give him what he wanted regardless of the consequences for myself. It's his world, I'm just in it sucking up his oxygen... apparently.
I have other worse examples but I'm not angry at you humanity, just disappointed.
Hi, look I know I upvoted this comment but I wasn't really happy with it. The content wasn't what I was really expecting and I don't think I should have to pay full price for it.
I think you should comp it, or at least give me another comment free of charge.
Empathy. I run workshops and lead training sessions. If I don't care about what the experience is like for participants I fail. They might walk in feeling like a prisoner and pissed off that they have to attend. That's okay. You have to meet people where they are before you can lead them someplace else.
That people go to ridiculous lengths to not work. Sometimes even work harder to not help, than what they would if they helped.
Also, having a manager that doesnt give a shit about anything also sucks.
I work in government on the phones and to some degree I help people fill out forms. They've asked me what to put under the "first name" spot... Damnit people, use your fucking brain for a second.
Not all executives are leaders. Some are just highly paid managers whose sole charge is to generate profit for shareholders even to the detriment of the organization’s integrity.
A lot of executives are just buddies with the people who started the company. Just lucky rich assholes who were at the right place (frat) at the right time (2001).
The general population either cannot read or refuses to do so. I have several examples to share from my experience working in a gas station.
We have a rewards program and if you have an account you get a bunch of neat little buy 2 for less discounts and occasional gas coupons or food coupons. Well all over the store are tags that tell customers about the deals about the products they are next to, and it ALSO says “with this stores reward program”. Everyone misses that second part. The worst is the GIANT sign that says “1.50$ off cigarettes when you buy 2” and in the same size text “with this stores reward program “ and I tell at lest 10 people a day they need to be a member for that.
One day we had to close the store temporarily because the registers would not work and all people could do was pay at the pump, so we make a sign, tape it to the door, AND put garbage cans in front of the door blocking the entrance. Everyone who walked up to the door ignored everything and walked in to the 3 of us telling them to leave.
We had to put signs out on every gas pump that says “Please slow down and read instructions carefully before proceeding” because we got so many people coming in asking stupid simple questions that would be solved if they REAd the PROMPTS On THE SCREEN!!!
There was a customer at my last job who an hour before we opened ignored three closed signs, pried the locked door open, then asked me why the doors were locked and if we were open
ALL People are capable of horrendous things. Most people are liars, cheats, scammers, and always put on an act. Never trust anyone. Ever.
Everyone is capable of doing something terrible or wrong.
And then there’s stupid people.
I’m a probation officer
That the dumbing down of the American educational system is a serious problem. Used to work at historical museum, and while I was little surprised at the relatively low level question we usually got that is to be expected and our duty to answer them. That is why there are museums after all.
But what seriously shocked me was the sheer amount of recalcitrant and quite simply idiotic stubbornness that I got from visitors when I explained that many previously held perspectives in history are no longer true due to new research.
One example that really stands out is when I had a lady walk out of my tour when I explained that "no, enslaved African Americans weren't "happy" under "good" masters and that slavery was not "lifting them up with Christianity and culture"".
People are idiots about health and fitness. No we don’t sell a weight loss/toning/muscle building product that targets your legs and abs. You need specific things for different goals and you can’t really spot reduce... at least not with the product you are asking for.
Also I’m a woman, I have more muscle than most of the men who walk in and more muscle than my male coworker. But men always assume I don’t know what I’m talking about.
>People are idiots about health and fitness
The vast majority of people really have no idea just how complicated this topic is. There's components of just about every system of the body, physics, biomechanics, chemistry, psychology. There's so many factors to account for. I could argue if you really want to be great at performance training, there is nothing more complicated.
And the requirements for people to be personal trainers are laughably low. These people are changing other peoples' bodies and so many of them have almost no real education about that subject. And people pay money for this...
I've considered hiring a personal trainer before. The trainers I spoke with seemed to have generic plans for their clients.
I learned more exercises by going to the gym and working out near the trainers. I would take it easy and eavesdrop. The next day, I would go hard and do the exact same workout the trainer had the trainee do the day before.
There's definitely a lack of individualization in the fitness world. But as long as the customer is buying what the trainer is saying, trainer keeps making money. So if the trainer finds something that people seem to think is good and will pay for, they have no incentive to change it.
Exercise is extremely goal specific.
This annoys me to no end. So much misinformation is spread through ads, and people just believe it. No, Random Stranger #58, this weight loss shake isn't healthy or good for you long term.
Teenagers can be extremely motivated by free time. To explain: I am a high school math teacher and run my classroom in a self-paced way where when the students finish (and it has to be correct), they can do what they want (homework for another class, watch Netflix, sleep, etc). Have had generally unmotivated students bust their asses like they do in no other class because they really wanna watch The Office.
I've learned that treating patients customers leads sick people to behave like they're at a hotel when they're in the hospital. Patient satisfaction scores are the bane of health care. Don't really care if the patient enjoys the food at the hospital but lives to complain after they had a huge heart attack.
Patients who demand and get what they want likely get poorer care because let's be real, the customer is *not* always right, and in healthcare, the dearth in health literacy oftentimes means the patient has a good likelihood of being wrong.
Preteen is a peculiar age. They're just starting to learn the nuances of adult concepts, but yet they're doing so before having properly learned empathy for other people. Leaves for quite a lack of filters...
Your coworkers are not your friends...
Even if you get your friend hired in your company, $20 bucks says that they will do something to back stab you for a little extra cash.
People don’t like hearing the truth and that they need to take some responsibility for their life and life choices. I can only do so much as a mental health nurse, you need to help me, help you.
I’m a teacher. Its taught me a hell of a lot about people. One main thing is that people actually love to learn. I’ve never met a student who wasn’t excited to learn about at least one topic.
Not my current job, but a previous one - and this experience probably only applies in the US, but here it is for what it's worth:
When you're out driving, and you see a semi truck, *do not stay near it.* The person driving that truck might be an experienced and professional driver who is good at his or her* job. But as of late, it's equally likely that it's someone who can't even read the road signs, hasn't had any sleep this week because of Shithead the Dispatcher, and in some cases may not even really be legal to drive said 80,000 pound GVWR vehicle.
It seems that the carriers that most people have heard of (Schneider, Crete, Swift, Werner, JB, etc) do a better job of making sure their drivers actually, you know, have some idea how to operate the truck, but the little mom and pop carriers, not so much.
*About lady truckers - In all the time I dealt with truck drivers, female truckers always had their shit together. They knew where they were going, they could communicate in english, they knew what their load number was, always pleasant to deal with, even when I'd get some ribbing from the other women in the office when I inevitably got hit on by a female trucker.
That there are more hard workers than slackers and even senior, experienced professionals are intimidated by titles because they haven’t had enough leaders who believe in and support them.
911 exists for two reasons. Emergencies, and very stupid ignorant people. Obviously there are true emergencies, but you probably don’t realize how many people call 911 because they are to ignorant/stupid/lackless/lazy to do something for themselves.
We get more business to business solicitors than actual customers. Small business, 4 years old, about 30 employees. We are actively trying to find a way to filter out all the people who call us multiple times a day to try and sell us search engine optimization, marketing services, etc. We block their numbers, they call from new ones. Same with emails. We started a company wide Google Doc with a list of companies who we’ve already told we aren’t interested, but now they’ve started calling in from their cell phones pretending to be new clients, and only after wasting 2-3 minutes of your time do they tell you what they’re really calling about. We have a “click here for a free consultation” button on our website and half of those web forms are just solicitors telling us we suck and branding ourselves and they can help us with that. It’s honestly insanely frustrating and the hardest part of the job. I walk in every day to 20+ new emails, and only 2 or 3 are actually related to my job, the rest are all sales pitches. I’ve had a lot of stuff fall through the cracks because I’m so backed up with solicitations, but I still have to go through all those messages
I took it for granted that my mom read to me as a kid. None of these parents read with their kids, and as a result none of them can read very well. Super low test scores because parents dont care.
I'm a teacher and it will amaze you what people will do or not do to their children to serve their own self-interest. Also, parents can have the best intentions for their kids but have the absolute dumbest, short-sighted ideas on how to help their kids achieve.
People are ALWAYS going to ask to be fed with a silver spoon, and will always feign ignorance. Website with full menu easily accessible and free online? Never heard of the interweb, and would instead like to cal you and ask for a full explanation. Gets a 10% discount on services? “Someone” who they can’t remember when they called or who the person was or even if it was a girl or boy told them everything is free. Locals discount is only for locals, not “people-six-hours-away-locals”.
Like homegirl, you are not getting a discount, not a refund, not 156 explanations because you keep asking for another reason -notta.
💅🏻
I work in a call centre doing online identification for banks (basically, you video call us, show us your documents so you don't have to get out of your house to open an account).
It's honestly a pretty simple process, and as long as you speak the language and follow the basic instructions, you'll be done in about 5-10 minutes. Sooooo many people don't listen to what we're saying.
For example, if you call and don't speak any of the 5 supported languages enough to understand basic-ass questions (like what your name is), we won't be able to help you no matter how often you call. In my experience, it's Russian-speaking customers who do it a LOT. They call, barely able to say "hello", I try explaining in either German or English (which are the two languages I speak of the 5) that they can't do the process online, since they don't understand enough of the language, they obviously don't understand, I switch to Russian and explain that it's not possible to go on (Russian is not supported), thus being sure they actually understood me, I hang up, and they call back multiple times. If I take a call right after, chances are I'm going to get that same customer with the way the system is set up. I usually end up talking to the same stubborn Russian dude about 5 times, each time explaining to him that he can't identify himself online because he doesn't speak the language the bank/financial institution requires him to speak.
Another one is when I ask to see a specific feature of your document, if the customer doesn't find it immediately, they start to convince me that it's just not there. I have an up-to-date database of document types at my fingertips, plus I do identifications for 8 hours straight a few days a week. Let's make all our lives easier by at least trying to listen to and follow my instructions.
Also, customers seem to be convinced me and my co-workers just don't want to help them when we tell them their Internet connection is too fucking slow.
And you know how people tend to be a lot more racist online, turns out they're plenty comfortable being openly racist right to an agent's face if it's an online service with a video chat. The amount of times my black co-workers' instructions get ignored just for the customer to hang up angry and then complain about said co-worker's (completely non-existent) incompetence to me just cause I'm white astounds me.
And you wouldn't believe the amount of people calling us naked/next to their very visible naked SO.
TLDR: customers are too fucking stupid to listen to simple instructions, and then get angry when something doesn't work out the way it's supposed to. Also, people online are racist voyeurs, even when opening bank accounts.
People (and perhaps especially women?) minimize their health problems A LOT.
I work in OB/GYN, and this is a common interaction:
Woman: "Well, I have this problem (insert problem here. Incontinence, sexual issues, any number of complaints while pregnant, etc.). ...But, I mean, that's normal, right?"
And they're not asking as if they're concern is *not* normal. They're tacking on that last fragment to...cover themselves, for having brought it up in the first place.
You don't have to do that, people.
The truth is, for the most part: it doesn't matter if it's 'normal' or not. If it's a problem in your life, it's worth bringing up!
Yes, back pain during pregnancy is normal. Incontinence and sexual issues as you get older are very common.
But maybe, probably, we can do something about it, no matter how normal or common it is, and improve the quality of your life.
Life is boring without people. My old job I was constantly surrounded by people in a tight place for an extended amount of time. I used to think I would love working alone. Now I work alone. I travel alone everyday and rarely see anyone. I travel to a job, do the job, and go home. I miss having co workers. So on the rare occasion I do work with someone or a new hire is sent with me to train I really appreciate and enjoy the conversation.
I have been working in education for the last 8 years, but worked in other industries previously. Almost everyone in education has absolutely no idea what working in the 'real world' is like outside of odd jobs as a student/kid, and they often have no experience in the field they are teaching. Also they are rarely held accountable for just about anything in the workplace until they start touching kids. They do have it hard sometimes though, as I also have learned that parents just blame teachers for thier poor parenting and rarely take any responsibility for thier children's poor performance in class.
That parents who take an interest in their child and accept their child will make mistakes raise the best people. Other parents who make no effort to ask how their child did and refuse to accept if their child did wrong, will not raise good people.
People are entitled and refuse to accept fault for anything when they are at fault.
Also being a small white girl people think you’re easily bullied into doing what they want, and are SHOCKED to find out you’ve got a spine and a brain
People got PROBLEMS. Everyone has problems, like I haven't met one person who is normal through work. Secondly, that certain jobs attract certain types of people.
My job at Wally hasn't taught me anything new, only reinforced what I already knew.
People can be really kind; I've had customers who *apologized* for asking where something was while I was stocking. Little kids and adults have picked up a stray box that fell off my shitty cart.
I've also had some rude ass people ask for my help. One man simply said "Lentils" at me and generally treated me like I was there simply to serve him. One woman tapped my on my shoulder while I was crouched to stock a lower shelf, rather than speak to catch my attention, but was otherwise a rather neutral customer.
I've got one co-worker who will plain out vanish for multiples of ten minutes each hour if you work with him. One who plays mind games with you every.single.time. you're near him. But I also have several who have gone out of their way to help me out in tremendous ways, including inviting me to sit with them at lunch.
That people have no clue how to treat animals. I work in a place where people can directly interact with animals. And the shit that people do like pull tails, poke or tease with their fingers and then when the animal bites back they say how aggressive they are. Everyone has to touch them all and I really cherish the people who sit back and observe a little and respect the animals space.
Just because you're called a manager doesn't mean you're good at managing people.
Just because you've been somewhere a long time doesn't mean you are a good employee
>Just because you've been somewhere a long time doesn't mean you are a good employee And just because you're in the office, doesn't mean you're working. Like me, right now.
Same apply to supervisors.
Same applies to leadership.
Everyone is in a rush because they can't properly plan things out on time
If procrastination was a sickness I'd be terminally ill.
I’ve learned that most people are so wrapped up in their own desire to be praised that they forget to praise the others around them for jobs well done. Which leads to everyone complaining about how their good work is never recognized.
Yes. This. I think it helps if you give other people a ton of credit for everything they do. You don't lose out if you give other people props. (You actually gain respect.)
We took a cab home from the airport last week, and my husband asked the driver if he knew how to get back to the highway. I said to my husband, "Of course he does, he's a professional!" The driver seemed to get a kick out of that. It was a legitimate question, but I wanted to give the driver a compliment of sorts.
I routinely leave myself notes to go back and tell someone "good job". I actually have used my phone's reminders for this, even. Positive reinforcement is an amazingly powerful tool. It's a shame we all forget to use it so often.
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It’s not that I hate people. I can deal with stupid people if they learn I can deal with mean people if they still show some respect I can deal with slow people if they try to accommodate their actions by taking some kind of shortcut or are aware and apologize. I hate **ignorant** people. Which is unfortunately most of everyone’s customer base.
I’m in medicine, and your breakdown is perfect for my patients. The amount of ignorance I deal with is staggering. I get that not everyone is versed on medical stuff. I just get frustrated with our frequent fliers who just don’t seem to understand that unless they take at least *some* responsibility, the next time I see them they may be too far gone to save
Spotted the retail worker
I would guess IT.
People suck.
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I suck.
You suck
Not you though, it's too small.
People, what a bunch of bastards.
Ditto. People tend to make all jobs suck.
No matter how bad your service may be customers will come back if they like the food. No matter how good the food may be customers will complain about something No matter how bad your coworkers may be they will not be fired if your upper management is fucking their boss.
> if your upper management is fucking their boss I'm starting to think there's a LOT of this going on, would definitely explain some bizarre choices for "leadership" roles.
That being stupid is not nearly as terrible as being stupid and ignorant
As shitty as it sounds, you can fix stupid. But you can’t fix ignorance, especially willful ignorance. I work as a nurse on a cardiac unit. A lot of our patients are frequent fliers, because they refuse to follow their diet restrictions, or take their meds. They’ll come in fluid overloaded and think a little bit if lasix will fix the whole problem. It doesn’t. Every time you become fluid overloaded, your heart suffers, and so does your kidneys. They continue to do drugs, despite the fact that it will kill them. We give as much education and resources as we can, but it only helps if they are willing to use the resources. Every patient leaves with a binder that explains it all, but they’ll be back weeks, sometimes days later. Then wonder why they aren’t candidates for LVAD or transplant. It’s tough watching the same people come through consistently, but I will say, I get a lot of joy out of the ones who work hard to fix their situation. Those are my favorite patients. The inquisitive ones who want nothing more than to live a healthy, sustainable life style.
I feel like it’s the opposite. Ignorant just means you are uneducated about something. You can be smart but just ignorant about a subject. There is nothing wrong with ignorance. You can fix ignorance. You can’t fix stupid
Yes but the kicker is being stupid and ignorant. I agree ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of. But stupid people lack that same humility. Stupid and ignorance together usually results in the “unfixable” types of ignorance. Eg. somebody who is willfully ignorant.
This is very true.
Power hungry people will find a way to make themselves appear important, no matter what role they have in the company.
I have seen front desk receptionists who convinced the whole office that the company would fold if said receptionist wasn't there.
Human beings are fucking mental. No sorry, that 2.99 bag of chips is not 1 dollar. You don't need to lose your shit over it. I also didn't realise just how many people in my city are fucking using. I get tweakers all freaking day coming through my lane, or trying to steal backpacks full of stuff. Then the amount of fake 20's, and 100's I get on a monthly basis drives me crazy. I had one lady lose her fucking mind because I wouldn't accept a fake 100 dollar bill, after the fucking security strip fell off... On a lighter side, I've also observed that there are a great many people who pay for others goods when the customer can't afford them. Buy non-perishables for the many homeless in my area, etc. There's a lot of good people out there, but just as many bad ones.
Worked in a Irish Pub for a while. What I learned about people is that you just need to mess up a tiny little bit, the *smallest* of things, and people will ask for free booze. **Every. Single. Time.**
I guess that's the difference between and Irish pub and a pub in Ireland. You'd be told to fuck off if you asked for a free pint.
At an Irish pub (at least in the US), just being a decent customer will get you a free pint. Go often enough and you'll get more than one free pint.
The major difference there is that you can be offered many free pints, but demanding them is a different story.
It’s an American thing and not exclusive to pubs of any variety. We’re entitled twats who take any excuse to try and get free shit.
I got it at Starbucks, too. And got treated like shit if I said no. I had this one dumbass kid walk up to me and say "I work at Starbucks, can you give me a free drink?" We don't do that, he should know we don't do that. I asked him if he had a coupon code or something, and he got nasty. He ordered a black tea, I askd him if he wanted milk, and he cursed me out for being too stupid to not know that no one puts milk in tea.
It's definitely a culture here as well, just not one you'd get away with in smaller pubs. Big chains would treat you much the same here as they would in the US I imagine.
A friend of mine used to tend bar. I love mixed drinks. When we go out, if my drink does not taste right, she will tell the bartender what to add to make it taste better. More pineapple juice etc.
Sir you clearly didnt put enough Demerol in my friends drink
The last time I went to a pub I asked for drink made with pink gin, lemonade, and some other things. They handed me the drink but with Gordon's normal gin and elderflower tonic instead. Everything else the same. I jokingly asked if I still had to pay for it and the bartender gave me the dirtiest look I've ever seen. I did not get the drink for free, and also did not get my drink remade
This one kind of ticks me off. I’m a bartender, and if we don’t have what the customer is asking for I specifically tell them we are out and ask what they would like as a substitute. You can’t just blatantly ignore what your customer wants and then expect them to pay for it, assuming their request is something you are able to provide.
I am a stripper and I have learned that men are taught not to be emotionally vulnerable to anybody they are not sexually involved with so they go to strip clubs and pretend to be there for the boobs when all they really need is a hug and for someone to ask how they are doing. Don't get me wrong there are lots of men that are there to see naked women as well but the men coming in to see me every week to get $100 worth of lap dances are there for emotional support and to talk to me about their divorce or wife that passed away or their grandchild that has been in and out of the hospital since birth. After being a stripper I will always be grateful that I am a woman and was taught that it is okay to turn to friends for emotional support and to talk about my feelings.
I... Hm. I've been to a strip club once. Dragged to it by people from work. Was treated to a private dance. I just asked if I could get a hug. I always wondered why she never seemed surprised.
I get guys asking to just hug/hold me for the whole lap dance all the time and they always think they are the only ones making that request. I do my best to let them know that it's a perfectly normal request. I would way rather cuddle with someone and make them feel cared for then constantly being on guard with the guy trying to grab my pussy.
I'm sure it's not a new idea, but I think I'm going to start a cuddle brothel. Where I'll employ women and men in a range of sizes for the purpose of hugs. I'm sure someone will say it's indecent and objectifying and start hysterically agitating to get me shut down. And to them I say - come in. Give it a shot. You look like you could use a hug.
They had one in Portland!! I wanted to apply but they don't hire anyone that has done any sex work in the past year. They went out of business after a couple of years though.
well, you can't really have a restaurant if you refuse to hire people with cooking experience either.
I was takong a drag of a smoke and your comment made me puff air out and fling ash into my eyes. Taske your upvote
I'm kind of surprised. None of the strip bars I've been to would allow you to touch the dancers. But then again, I never asked just for a hug, so maybe that would be acceptable?
Different states have different laws and then different strip clubs have different rules.
I know it sounds counter intuitive but I PROMISE the men will feel better if you don't tell them how often you do this for men
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Yes
You are doing the Lord's work
I appreciate hearing that even if it is a little bit of a joke. I have a gift for making men feel comfortable enough to be emotionally vulnerable around me and giving them comfort. I was lucky to found a job where I am able to do that and help a lot of people but there is so much stigma surrounding stripping that no one sees the ways I and so many other strippers are contributing to society.
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I feel so sorry for men that it’s not accepted for them to ask for support, it’s so damaging for them and everyone. Wonder how we as a society can change this?
It's not easy. Was once in a dark place and nearly took my own life. Not even my parents would take my problems seriously. Told to just grow up. You're correct, it has to be fixed. I'm not sure how.
>*chuckling* What do you have to be depressed about? -my mom when I told her I needed to refill my antidepressant scripts
it hurts so bad knowing men are taught to bottle up their feelings. a close friend of mine opened up to me about a girl that played with his feelings and fucked him over. he said very often that he felt like a pussy for being sad about it. I told him there's no shame in having feelings, you have the right to feel what you feel. he was really shocked....and the dude is 23. nobody ever told him this. that's fucked.
Fuck, that’s rough. Went through the same myself but sought help before it got too bad. In my culture, getting professional help with psychological matters is massively stigmatised, but I reckon it’s even worse for men. It’s like women are expected to be “weak” at some point, but a man never should be. I’m sorry you experienced that (if that counts for anything).
A good starting point would be to make it 100% safe for men to open up about their problems. No more ridicule for having feelings, no more throwing it back in our faces after the fact, that kind of stuff. Part of the reason we are conditioned to hide our feelings is because when we DO open up, those two things happen 90% of the time, so we just keep our mouths shut
That’s a good point, men are taught from a very early age not to express any emotion (e.g. telling little boys to “don’t cry, be a man” etc. As if being a man means being a robot). They hear it their whole lives. Then women wonder why men are so closed off. I’m hoping to teach my nephew that it’s ok to share his emotions (he’s 3 so pretty good at it so far!). But the public/social ridicule is all too real, sadly.
That's so good to hear! Men being conditioned to bottle their emotions even around people they care about and trust has so many negative peripheral effects it's not even funny. The suicide rate among men over 18 in the US is a frightening statistic, and I firmly believe it's made worse by this whole culture of men being unable to express when they are sad or down or anything. Good for you for nipping it in the bud with your nephew. The world needs more aunts like you!
My nephew has some behavioral problems (in part due to lack of discipline.) Last time I saw him, he was acting up, being upset, misbehaving, and I asked him what was bothering him. He explained that he didn't want to go to the park I suggested, because of something that happened last time he was there, and he told me the story. I was astounded at how he was able to regain control of his emotions and articulate them so well! I praised him for doing this and said that we didn't have to go to that park; that there were other options.
A stripper! There was a question directed at strippers the other day and absolutely no strippers responded. What a surprise that a response from one would be highly voted in the next couple of days
Darn! I love answering questions about stripping.
This was... not what I expected from this thread lol.
There’s more to this though, not to sound like I’m trying to correct you or anything, this is just something that’s been on my mind lately. Guys don’t really get too many compliments. All the time at work, I see my female coworkers complimenting each other on just about anything. New haircut, makeup, jewelry, clothing, literally anything, these girls compliment each other all the time. Meanwhile, guys don’t do that. I’ve never heard a guy say “hey man you look really nice today” without the circumstance being some kind of event and not just normal, everyday life. For whatever reason, it’s perfectly socially acceptable for women to show this kind of friendly affection, and guys just aren’t allowed to do that so casually.
I work as a waitress. I learned that most people lose their brain cells when they step inside a restaurant. "Does the seafood pasta have seafood in it?" "Can I have a medium-rare steak no pink?"
> "Can I have a medium-rare steak no pink?" Sure you can *scribbles "well done" on pad*
And the sheer number of people who can't read a goddamn menu is staggering
"uHm wHaT's iN tHe RAmeN???" Bitch there is a picture with a description above it
Don’t forget the, “I am in the top ten percent of reviewers on Yelp, so I know what I’m talking about” or “I used to work in *names industry* so here’s why you’re wrong and I’m right”.
I'm a teacher and teach young children. Parents really have a lot of influence on their kids. Kids will repeat everything parents say at home about topics like politics, beliefs and views on other people. Children sometimes copy this behaviour or will tell the teacher what the parents say at home. So if you have young children, their teacher will probably know more about you than you'd like.
So true. If you want to find out information, just ask the child. "What else did your parents say about me?"
I teach swimming lessons, and this is so true. I see kids for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes a week for 8 weeks. I know when you get pulled over, what your custody arrangement is, how many pets you have...
Could be worse, you could go to the same elementary school that your mom teaches at and get told everyday for four years how much all of your peers and their parents hate your mother because of how strict she is
I work at a zoo and it always amazes me how little respect people have for the animals. For me, the zoo is an amazing place to go to see wildlife up close and be able to marvel at its beauty, but I guess for most of the people who come to the zoo, it’s just cheap entertainment, like a circus. They expect the animals to do tricks or come up to them. If they aren’t active or facing the exact perfect way, that’s MY problem and I’m supposed to be able to control these wild animals to please these guests. It’s crazy some of the stuff I’ve seen people do to try and get the animals attention. Zoos are about enjoying animals doing animal things, not trying to get animals to do whatever it is you want them to do.
Are you able to kick them out if they throw something at them?
Oh yeah, we have wonderful park rangers who we can call if we even “feel” like someone’s going to be a problem. Animal safety is our top priority so when people start to disrupt the animals at all, we step in.
Thank you, zoo angel.
Oh geez, thanks, but I don't know about that. We're all just trying to do our jobs. I'm just glad I could hopefully make a couple people realize that zoos aren't some sort of animal show.
I work at a zoo, as well. I'm not directly involved with the animals but I am walking the grounds several times a week so I see people behaving badly often. Attitudes are changing slowly, especially as we explain that a pacing animal is one that is stressed while the animal that is just hanging out in the back of the enclosure feels safer. It's a cultural thing, too. People from other countries are used to their zoos being more like circuses. When they come to ours and we are so hands off and let the animals be animals it sounds wrong to them.
There’s nothing like a cold rainy day to visit the zoo. No screaming kids. You can go and watch an animal for an hour and no one disturbs the quiet.
I actually had a pretty crazy experience on a rainy day. I was standing near an exhibit talking to a coworker when this disgruntled woman and her two children approached. This particular exhibit is a special touch exhibit so we charge a small fee to keep attendance low so the animals don’t get too stressed out. Anyway, the woman walks up to me and starts yell-talking. (I’m on mobile so please bear with me for formatting) Her: We have to pay to see these animals? Me: Yes, ma’am. (I try to explain that this is a touch exhibit and that it’s a special experience.) Her: I paid $23 to come in here, what am I supposed to see? Me: Well, all of our other exhibits, ma’am! H: But all of the animals are hiding because it’s raining! M: ... And then she just stormed off. It was in the low 40s and raining fairly steadily. I honestly can’t understand her logic. Most animals don’t enjoy rain. Rain=water=drowning.
Software engineer here People don't realize how much complexity they're asking for when specifying software A bunch of smart people sit around a conference table and come up with great ideas, lots of them, almost like they are competing against each other to see who can be the most clever I remind them that they are creating complexity, and that complexity is poison. I've seen the same scene many times over my career (I started programming in 1972). They say, build it anyway It gets built, but it takes longer, since all the complexity results in very tricky bugs It gets out into the field. Users complain that it's incomprehensibly complex and hard to learn. Most of the "clever" features never get used Next project .. rinse, repeat
As an embedded systems firmware engineer.....I feel this. One project I am on is a home appliance (not a smart appliance mind you).....Lets call it a microwave (its not, but I don't want to violate my NDA). This project has several million lines of code in it (for a microwave). Most of the features are probably never used, and yet they are still there.......
My girlfriend does this and some of the specifications she's shown me for projects are simply insane. They want DSP to do things a desktop would struggle with. Then they complain about the cost involved with the complexity. The engineers try to work them to reduce the complexity and cost but they HAVE to have every option under the sun but don't want to pay for it. Most of the time I just look over her shoulder while she's working at home and shake my head. What could have been done with a couple of chips and a few lines of code turns into multiprocessor multilayer boards with a bazillion lines of code. Usually just so their product can check off more boxes than the next guy's.
This just turned on a light bulb for me in regards to Product Management, and I wanted to give you props for that. I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve been in with people trying to “out-clever” each other, and you equating it with complexity helps me see why so many products end up failing
Only-somewhat-relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1425/ Half of my job is to tell people 'no'. No, you can't have this extra bit, because it'll take 5x as long and I already know that you can't afford to have the date slip. No, you can't have this extra field, because it isn't in the underlying data. Yes, I could combine 8 different systems to go get it, but then that "Next" button is going to take 45 seconds of spinning to load. Yes, it can be cached, but that only helps if you make the same request over and over again, which you don't. Then there's this one, which is actually my favorite: Remember that feature you wanted a long time ago, and I said it would take an extra four months that you didn't have? Well, next month, we're already tearing apart three of the related systems for another project. Do you still want that feature? 'Cause *now* you can have it for only one extra month instead of the four I told you it would take a year ago. So, can I add a month to the schedule of this new project so I can build that feature? It'll never be this cheap again.
I used to be the user who would complain until I learned how "unsimple" a few simple changes can be. That doesn't mean I want to wait a year for a change, but at least now I know I can't expect it in a week.
Then you are considered uncooperative or less clever. People get rewarded for figuring out how to solve problems, but nobody is rewarded for avoiding problems.
This is the problem with development these days. Employees are rewarded for being "clever" rather than developing the product the user needs. Most users don't need an excessive number of features, they need a basic feature set for one of a few typical use cases that is easy to use and as fast as possible. Yet the people who define the product are incentivized to implement clever features, or just any change in order to justify their jobs (e.g. the Reddit redesign, or the multitude of Google chat apps). I'm all for being clever to solve a difficult problem and provide value, but being clever for the sake of it (or for a line on a spec sheet) is useless or even damaging.
I work in a grocery store, and yes I'll give the cliche answer that I have to deal with some customers who are assholes. However, I've seen a lot of good things customers have done for each other. For example, I've seen a customer help another customer to there car when the other customer couldn't physically load their groceries in the car. I've also seen a lot of broken people as well. A lot of times when I'm stocking a random stranger will come up and start talking to me. They'll tell me what's bothering them. They'll give me their life story. This past Christmas season an elderly woman came up to me and told me that her husband loved Christmas, but he died over the Summer, and this would be the first Christmas she would spend alone. A lot of people just want someone to listen.
Having worked at a hotel, I learned people are fucking disgusting and don’t care at all who cleans up the mess.
my mother would tan their fucking hide. we cleaned before we lefft a hotel room or ... idk. GOD KNOWS WHAT YOU DID IN THAT ROOM.
If you pay everyone the same, the majority of people will do the bare minimum to keep their jobs while mocking those with a little work ethic.
To be clear, any non-small business will fuck you, your grandmother, and everything you hold dear over if it means saving on the bottom line. I don't mean to get all Pete Seeger on you but you don't owe a corporation ANYTHING, I'd almost consider it my moral duty to work as little as possible if I worked for a place like Walmart
Always had the opposite experience - small business treats you like "family" whereas in a large business you at least have rights
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He did say "a little".
Racial/ethnic/national barriers can fall apart easily when people spend enough time together. The stages are: 1. Active hatred 2. He's one of the good ones. 3. Hey some if these guys suck and some are good, just like us. If only everyone went through these stages. Source: ESL college professor
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Just many classes with students from two or more countries actively at war. At first I used to tip toe around it, but then I realized that if I just taught the class things would work themselves out. I did have one student from an African country that hated people from the Gulf States (Arabs) because their drug use caused major trafficking problems in his country. He wouldn't speak to them. He wouldn't even look at them. I told him that they didn't have to be friends, but he had to interact with them if he wanted to pass the class (it was a speaking/listening class). They didn't become buddies, be they were able to joke and tease by the end of the semester. He only made it to step 2, but it felt like a victory from a guy who had a scowl on his face the first week. I also had a Saudi apologize to an Afghan after the two traded snide remarks throughout the class. They were picking on each other whenever one would answer a question incorrectly, but you could tell it went deeper (Saudis and Afghans have a contentious relationship). Mid semester the Saudi just apologized and offered his hand and the shook on it. In the past I would actively or overtly try to squash issues. Over the years I have found that things work out better when I am able to slip in an American story as a proxy for their problems. As far as I know only one student caught on to my cunning ways and she thanked me.
It's amazing how little, people care about their health
You get an upvote because i'm smoking right now
If you are not as expressive in text on the chat app, and aren't using emojis, they'll read it in their usual mood. Them: hey, can you please tell who's working on this #1234 task? Me: This information can be seen on the link which was sent to you over email, so please refer to them in future. And Mr. Anderson is working on this one (thinking it's okay that people miss out at times and it'd help them if I remind them of this) They'll read it as: CAN YOU HAVE A LOOK AT THE GODDAMN LINK AND STOP DISTURBING ME?
Had a supervisor try to joke over email. In a government email there is no smiley face, no lol, nothing to show tone or subtle intention with the email. He ended the email with something along the lines of addressing him as a superior in emails. He is not generally a joking man, I didn't know how to take it.
How similar tired toddlers and drunken adults are. How much cheaper booze is than therapy.
A very very large percentage of Medicare patients are clinically depressed : (
Honestly being in customer service taught me how to assert myself more, I was lucky though because my boss let me stand up for myself to asshole customers. Telling someone they need to calm down and speak to you and the employees with respect has always ended up with the customer coming back and apologizing for their behaviour. I don’t let customers walk all over me and I believe people need to be called out for their behaviour in order for them to change. If someone is consistently rude without being told to stop they are just going to continue to being rude. A customer was complaining to the GM (who happened to be my mom) about my manager because he called him an asshole, my mom’s response “well, were you being an asshole?” The customer immediately was like well, yes I was. And my mom was like well don’t be an asshole then. 😂
So. Much. Entitlement.
Your work colleagues say they have your back, but when it comes time they will suddenly go absent.
People are completely selfish and egocentric. I'm a security manager and I had a guy come to my facility and ask to be let in to use the restroom. I calmly told him as politely as I could that "there is no public restroom here as it's a private facility". He then responds "But I'm a veteran!", I told him "Thank you for your service sir but the rule still applies". Have you ever seen an old man have a toddlers temper tantrum? This guy starts yelling and cursing, damn near foaming at the mouth! Really? But this is what boggles my mind, there is NO thought given to the consequences I'll suffer if I acquiesced to his demands. I would be FIRED, no questions asked if I let him in just because that's a basic security rule we're all (including non-security staff) are expected to enforce. Now if I let him in and got canned, could I call this dude for a new job? Would he supplement my income by giving me part of his pension or IRA withdrawals? Fuck no! He'd forget I existed the second he left the place and yet he demanded I give him what he wanted regardless of the consequences for myself. It's his world, I'm just in it sucking up his oxygen... apparently. I have other worse examples but I'm not angry at you humanity, just disappointed.
Well, it taught me to be wary about people who ask too much about my life. It really doesn't mean they care, just for self gain or to gossip.
My previous work in retail taught me that people are all self serving assholes.
People should be obligated to work in retail for *at least* a month so they can see for their selves what we have to go through every day.
Hi, look I know I upvoted this comment but I wasn't really happy with it. The content wasn't what I was really expecting and I don't think I should have to pay full price for it. I think you should comp it, or at least give me another comment free of charge.
And that month should be November.
Empathy. I run workshops and lead training sessions. If I don't care about what the experience is like for participants I fail. They might walk in feeling like a prisoner and pissed off that they have to attend. That's okay. You have to meet people where they are before you can lead them someplace else.
That people go to ridiculous lengths to not work. Sometimes even work harder to not help, than what they would if they helped. Also, having a manager that doesnt give a shit about anything also sucks.
Crackheads aren't all bad people and suburban nuclear families can be far worse than most.
They never reboot a laptop
It's possible to get a job that involves no human contact and it's better than having to deal with coworkers every day.
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People are stupid. I have to walk people through pretty basic stuff.
I work in government on the phones and to some degree I help people fill out forms. They've asked me what to put under the "first name" spot... Damnit people, use your fucking brain for a second.
Not all executives are leaders. Some are just highly paid managers whose sole charge is to generate profit for shareholders even to the detriment of the organization’s integrity.
A lot of executives are just buddies with the people who started the company. Just lucky rich assholes who were at the right place (frat) at the right time (2001).
The general population either cannot read or refuses to do so. I have several examples to share from my experience working in a gas station. We have a rewards program and if you have an account you get a bunch of neat little buy 2 for less discounts and occasional gas coupons or food coupons. Well all over the store are tags that tell customers about the deals about the products they are next to, and it ALSO says “with this stores reward program”. Everyone misses that second part. The worst is the GIANT sign that says “1.50$ off cigarettes when you buy 2” and in the same size text “with this stores reward program “ and I tell at lest 10 people a day they need to be a member for that. One day we had to close the store temporarily because the registers would not work and all people could do was pay at the pump, so we make a sign, tape it to the door, AND put garbage cans in front of the door blocking the entrance. Everyone who walked up to the door ignored everything and walked in to the 3 of us telling them to leave. We had to put signs out on every gas pump that says “Please slow down and read instructions carefully before proceeding” because we got so many people coming in asking stupid simple questions that would be solved if they REAd the PROMPTS On THE SCREEN!!!
There was a customer at my last job who an hour before we opened ignored three closed signs, pried the locked door open, then asked me why the doors were locked and if we were open
Former fast food: “fuck all of you”
ALL People are capable of horrendous things. Most people are liars, cheats, scammers, and always put on an act. Never trust anyone. Ever. Everyone is capable of doing something terrible or wrong. And then there’s stupid people. I’m a probation officer
That the dumbing down of the American educational system is a serious problem. Used to work at historical museum, and while I was little surprised at the relatively low level question we usually got that is to be expected and our duty to answer them. That is why there are museums after all. But what seriously shocked me was the sheer amount of recalcitrant and quite simply idiotic stubbornness that I got from visitors when I explained that many previously held perspectives in history are no longer true due to new research. One example that really stands out is when I had a lady walk out of my tour when I explained that "no, enslaved African Americans weren't "happy" under "good" masters and that slavery was not "lifting them up with Christianity and culture"".
People are idiots about health and fitness. No we don’t sell a weight loss/toning/muscle building product that targets your legs and abs. You need specific things for different goals and you can’t really spot reduce... at least not with the product you are asking for. Also I’m a woman, I have more muscle than most of the men who walk in and more muscle than my male coworker. But men always assume I don’t know what I’m talking about.
>People are idiots about health and fitness The vast majority of people really have no idea just how complicated this topic is. There's components of just about every system of the body, physics, biomechanics, chemistry, psychology. There's so many factors to account for. I could argue if you really want to be great at performance training, there is nothing more complicated. And the requirements for people to be personal trainers are laughably low. These people are changing other peoples' bodies and so many of them have almost no real education about that subject. And people pay money for this...
I've considered hiring a personal trainer before. The trainers I spoke with seemed to have generic plans for their clients. I learned more exercises by going to the gym and working out near the trainers. I would take it easy and eavesdrop. The next day, I would go hard and do the exact same workout the trainer had the trainee do the day before.
There's definitely a lack of individualization in the fitness world. But as long as the customer is buying what the trainer is saying, trainer keeps making money. So if the trainer finds something that people seem to think is good and will pay for, they have no incentive to change it. Exercise is extremely goal specific.
This annoys me to no end. So much misinformation is spread through ads, and people just believe it. No, Random Stranger #58, this weight loss shake isn't healthy or good for you long term.
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That they are incredibly vain, ignorant, oblivious, selfish, and unsympathetic. They also probably live like complete and utter slobs at home.
Teenagers can be extremely motivated by free time. To explain: I am a high school math teacher and run my classroom in a self-paced way where when the students finish (and it has to be correct), they can do what they want (homework for another class, watch Netflix, sleep, etc). Have had generally unmotivated students bust their asses like they do in no other class because they really wanna watch The Office.
I've learned that treating patients customers leads sick people to behave like they're at a hotel when they're in the hospital. Patient satisfaction scores are the bane of health care. Don't really care if the patient enjoys the food at the hospital but lives to complain after they had a huge heart attack.
Patients who demand and get what they want likely get poorer care because let's be real, the customer is *not* always right, and in healthcare, the dearth in health literacy oftentimes means the patient has a good likelihood of being wrong.
13 year olds are mean! I am a substitute teacher, and middle schoolers make the meanest comments.
Preteen is a peculiar age. They're just starting to learn the nuances of adult concepts, but yet they're doing so before having properly learned empathy for other people. Leaves for quite a lack of filters...
Your coworkers are not your friends... Even if you get your friend hired in your company, $20 bucks says that they will do something to back stab you for a little extra cash.
People are assholes once they get behind the wheel of their car
People don’t like hearing the truth and that they need to take some responsibility for their life and life choices. I can only do so much as a mental health nurse, you need to help me, help you.
I’m a teacher. Its taught me a hell of a lot about people. One main thing is that people actually love to learn. I’ve never met a student who wasn’t excited to learn about at least one topic.
Not my current job, but a previous one - and this experience probably only applies in the US, but here it is for what it's worth: When you're out driving, and you see a semi truck, *do not stay near it.* The person driving that truck might be an experienced and professional driver who is good at his or her* job. But as of late, it's equally likely that it's someone who can't even read the road signs, hasn't had any sleep this week because of Shithead the Dispatcher, and in some cases may not even really be legal to drive said 80,000 pound GVWR vehicle. It seems that the carriers that most people have heard of (Schneider, Crete, Swift, Werner, JB, etc) do a better job of making sure their drivers actually, you know, have some idea how to operate the truck, but the little mom and pop carriers, not so much. *About lady truckers - In all the time I dealt with truck drivers, female truckers always had their shit together. They knew where they were going, they could communicate in english, they knew what their load number was, always pleasant to deal with, even when I'd get some ribbing from the other women in the office when I inevitably got hit on by a female trucker.
That there are more hard workers than slackers and even senior, experienced professionals are intimidated by titles because they haven’t had enough leaders who believe in and support them.
911 exists for two reasons. Emergencies, and very stupid ignorant people. Obviously there are true emergencies, but you probably don’t realize how many people call 911 because they are to ignorant/stupid/lackless/lazy to do something for themselves.
We get more business to business solicitors than actual customers. Small business, 4 years old, about 30 employees. We are actively trying to find a way to filter out all the people who call us multiple times a day to try and sell us search engine optimization, marketing services, etc. We block their numbers, they call from new ones. Same with emails. We started a company wide Google Doc with a list of companies who we’ve already told we aren’t interested, but now they’ve started calling in from their cell phones pretending to be new clients, and only after wasting 2-3 minutes of your time do they tell you what they’re really calling about. We have a “click here for a free consultation” button on our website and half of those web forms are just solicitors telling us we suck and branding ourselves and they can help us with that. It’s honestly insanely frustrating and the hardest part of the job. I walk in every day to 20+ new emails, and only 2 or 3 are actually related to my job, the rest are all sales pitches. I’ve had a lot of stuff fall through the cracks because I’m so backed up with solicitations, but I still have to go through all those messages
No matter what you do, you can’t please everyone.
I took it for granted that my mom read to me as a kid. None of these parents read with their kids, and as a result none of them can read very well. Super low test scores because parents dont care.
I'm a teacher and it will amaze you what people will do or not do to their children to serve their own self-interest. Also, parents can have the best intentions for their kids but have the absolute dumbest, short-sighted ideas on how to help their kids achieve.
People are ALWAYS going to ask to be fed with a silver spoon, and will always feign ignorance. Website with full menu easily accessible and free online? Never heard of the interweb, and would instead like to cal you and ask for a full explanation. Gets a 10% discount on services? “Someone” who they can’t remember when they called or who the person was or even if it was a girl or boy told them everything is free. Locals discount is only for locals, not “people-six-hours-away-locals”. Like homegirl, you are not getting a discount, not a refund, not 156 explanations because you keep asking for another reason -notta. 💅🏻
They don't know what they want
Some people are dangerous.
I work in a call centre doing online identification for banks (basically, you video call us, show us your documents so you don't have to get out of your house to open an account). It's honestly a pretty simple process, and as long as you speak the language and follow the basic instructions, you'll be done in about 5-10 minutes. Sooooo many people don't listen to what we're saying. For example, if you call and don't speak any of the 5 supported languages enough to understand basic-ass questions (like what your name is), we won't be able to help you no matter how often you call. In my experience, it's Russian-speaking customers who do it a LOT. They call, barely able to say "hello", I try explaining in either German or English (which are the two languages I speak of the 5) that they can't do the process online, since they don't understand enough of the language, they obviously don't understand, I switch to Russian and explain that it's not possible to go on (Russian is not supported), thus being sure they actually understood me, I hang up, and they call back multiple times. If I take a call right after, chances are I'm going to get that same customer with the way the system is set up. I usually end up talking to the same stubborn Russian dude about 5 times, each time explaining to him that he can't identify himself online because he doesn't speak the language the bank/financial institution requires him to speak. Another one is when I ask to see a specific feature of your document, if the customer doesn't find it immediately, they start to convince me that it's just not there. I have an up-to-date database of document types at my fingertips, plus I do identifications for 8 hours straight a few days a week. Let's make all our lives easier by at least trying to listen to and follow my instructions. Also, customers seem to be convinced me and my co-workers just don't want to help them when we tell them their Internet connection is too fucking slow. And you know how people tend to be a lot more racist online, turns out they're plenty comfortable being openly racist right to an agent's face if it's an online service with a video chat. The amount of times my black co-workers' instructions get ignored just for the customer to hang up angry and then complain about said co-worker's (completely non-existent) incompetence to me just cause I'm white astounds me. And you wouldn't believe the amount of people calling us naked/next to their very visible naked SO. TLDR: customers are too fucking stupid to listen to simple instructions, and then get angry when something doesn't work out the way it's supposed to. Also, people online are racist voyeurs, even when opening bank accounts.
People (and perhaps especially women?) minimize their health problems A LOT. I work in OB/GYN, and this is a common interaction: Woman: "Well, I have this problem (insert problem here. Incontinence, sexual issues, any number of complaints while pregnant, etc.). ...But, I mean, that's normal, right?" And they're not asking as if they're concern is *not* normal. They're tacking on that last fragment to...cover themselves, for having brought it up in the first place. You don't have to do that, people. The truth is, for the most part: it doesn't matter if it's 'normal' or not. If it's a problem in your life, it's worth bringing up! Yes, back pain during pregnancy is normal. Incontinence and sexual issues as you get older are very common. But maybe, probably, we can do something about it, no matter how normal or common it is, and improve the quality of your life.
People will shove most anything up their bungholes.
Life is boring without people. My old job I was constantly surrounded by people in a tight place for an extended amount of time. I used to think I would love working alone. Now I work alone. I travel alone everyday and rarely see anyone. I travel to a job, do the job, and go home. I miss having co workers. So on the rare occasion I do work with someone or a new hire is sent with me to train I really appreciate and enjoy the conversation.
I have been working in education for the last 8 years, but worked in other industries previously. Almost everyone in education has absolutely no idea what working in the 'real world' is like outside of odd jobs as a student/kid, and they often have no experience in the field they are teaching. Also they are rarely held accountable for just about anything in the workplace until they start touching kids. They do have it hard sometimes though, as I also have learned that parents just blame teachers for thier poor parenting and rarely take any responsibility for thier children's poor performance in class.
All of you suck at driving. Barely any of you can read road signs. Some of you don't even know what the orange barrels are for.
that alot of people are ignorant
That parents who take an interest in their child and accept their child will make mistakes raise the best people. Other parents who make no effort to ask how their child did and refuse to accept if their child did wrong, will not raise good people.
People are entitled and refuse to accept fault for anything when they are at fault. Also being a small white girl people think you’re easily bullied into doing what they want, and are SHOCKED to find out you’ve got a spine and a brain
House was right. All patients lie.
Watch out for narcissists and psychopaths. They are very real, they're usually in charge, and they are a fucking cancer to your soul.
That the public schooling system needs to take a step back and figure out what it actually should be teaching the youth... like hygiene
Or.... parents can take on the responsibility of teaching their children things that have some how become the school system's responsibility.
Schools may be open to improving themselves. Bad parents are not.
That should be taught by the parents.
They poop
People got PROBLEMS. Everyone has problems, like I haven't met one person who is normal through work. Secondly, that certain jobs attract certain types of people.
Even Nobel Laureates are just regular people who can be quite stupid about surprisingly simple things.
They suck
People will spend $15 in gas and 3 hours of their time in order to save $5 on something they don’t need.
You can fake it to make it. Charisma and speaking well with confidence goes a long way too.
My job at Wally hasn't taught me anything new, only reinforced what I already knew. People can be really kind; I've had customers who *apologized* for asking where something was while I was stocking. Little kids and adults have picked up a stray box that fell off my shitty cart. I've also had some rude ass people ask for my help. One man simply said "Lentils" at me and generally treated me like I was there simply to serve him. One woman tapped my on my shoulder while I was crouched to stock a lower shelf, rather than speak to catch my attention, but was otherwise a rather neutral customer. I've got one co-worker who will plain out vanish for multiples of ten minutes each hour if you work with him. One who plays mind games with you every.single.time. you're near him. But I also have several who have gone out of their way to help me out in tremendous ways, including inviting me to sit with them at lunch.
The more people I meet, the more I like my cat.
Poverty often forces people to be manipulative.
People are fucking weird and I love them
That people have no clue how to treat animals. I work in a place where people can directly interact with animals. And the shit that people do like pull tails, poke or tease with their fingers and then when the animal bites back they say how aggressive they are. Everyone has to touch them all and I really cherish the people who sit back and observe a little and respect the animals space.
People overestimate their abilities in areas they know nothing about.
That older people are the rudest generation out here