Dee ([info]spidertea) wrote,
@ 2007-09-09 18:00:00
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Cry Baby
Today at work...

Customer (20ish male): Can I have more ice? (his cup was filled to the top with liquid)
Me: Sure. (I pour out enough liquid to put more ice in)
Customer: What are you doing?! Why would you do that?!
Me: (holding ice scoop, but not putting it in drink yet) Would you still like more ice or would you like me to-
Customer: Why would you do that?! That doesn't even make sense.
Me: Would you like more ice or-
Customer: (huffy) YEAH!
Me: (hand customer drink)
Customer: (not yelling anymore, but like I'm the stupidest person one Earth) God, I don't understand why you would do that. Why would you do that.
Me: (sincerely) I'm sorry.
Customer: (scoffs) Whatever. (turns to walk away)
Me: (politely, but loud enough for him to hear) Well, you don't need to be rude about it.

Then I cried. I didn't mean to. Maybe it was an accumulation since the customer before him was a serious Crabby the Whole World Owes me type person. Or maybe my blood sugar was too low. Or maybe it's normal to cry when someone is a complete dick to you for no reason.

I don't get mean people. I assume they're self-loathing depressives with poor coping skills. I was miserable and self-loathing for a solid 10 years, but I had the common courtesy to take it out on myself. Even with Mr. I Don't Understand the Concept that Ice Won't Fit in a Cup if the Cup is Full, the thought of being mean to him didn't ever cross my mind.

That being said, most customers are awesome and friendly and familiar with basic spacial laws. I really do love my job. I love people. But if you're the kind of person who thinks it's okay to belittle baristas/waitresses/strangers then get cable TV and STAY HOME.

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[info]elenfair
2007-09-09 11:11 pm UTC (link)
I suppose "Dude, where did you want me to put the ice? Did you think it would magically float above the cup? I mean, I could have made you hold it and we could have experimented with it and tested water surface-tension theory, if you'd have liked..." was not an option, huh.

Damn.

Vengeance. It's the way to go. What a fucker! There needs to be chai.

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[info]spidertea
2007-09-10 03:32 am UTC (link)
Ooh, I like your reply. I bet his head would have popped off like a dandelion out of confusion.

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[info]hereticchick
2007-09-09 11:38 pm UTC (link)
i've never understood people who think it's okay to be rude to those who work in "service" positions. more often than not (though it sounds like this is not the case for you), those people already have shitty jobs that they hate. people really do need to just stop being selfish, insensitive pricks and start being nicer. then again, some people just don't understand the science behind displacement.

i'm sorry to hear that you cried. i know how it can suck to cry out of frustrated/bottled-up feelings at work. i remember when i worked at shinder's and was yelled at by a guy for carding him when he went into the "adults only" section. and he was only 19-years old! *sheesh* people just suck.

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[info]spidertea
2007-09-10 03:33 am UTC (link)
yeah, i think it was more frustration than anything.
the silly part was that i only cried for like 30 seconds, but that's all it takes for my face to get all blotchy and puffy!

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[info]arturis
2007-09-10 04:54 am UTC (link)
The simple fact is that a certain percentage of people simply cannot interact in a normal way with strangers. Mike believes it's 1 in 15. I know that psychology says that 1% of people are schizophrenic, and 1% of people are psychopaths, I'm sure the remaining 5-6% can be accounted for with various other disorders.

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[info]davedash
2007-09-10 07:37 pm UTC (link)
Every drop of tea is sacred :)

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What the World needs now is love
[info]boneal01
2007-09-10 11:02 pm UTC (link)
Yeah. Courtesy is a foreign concept to an increasingly large number of people.
I think these people that are rude and abusive don't have enough tenderness in their lives. If it helps make you feel better, they aren't mad at you as much as they are miserable in a more general way.
They might not all be self-loathing, though I think that's probably true many times, but they all seem to not realize that being rude is not making their service or their mood any better.

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