Good plan! We used to turn off all the lights except the ones over the straglers' table(s), but people rude or dumb enough to come in and dine in that late are usually too rude or dumb to take that kind of hint, too.
Good man! I can't stand shopping for the sake of browsing; but I'm a fairly patient man and I can't count the minutes (or hours) I've spent playing Zelda on my cell phone while my girlfriend browses or tries on clothes. We've both had enough retail experience not to do that when it's close to closing time, though.
Working as a dishwasher, I have particularly loathed people who insist upon staying late... the cooks get to go at closing time, you know, but if some jerk spends and hour finishing his meal, I'm just waiting around for him. Restaurant hours are typically marked quite clearly; you have to be dense or, worse, intentionally dense to sit and eat past closing time. At one of the first restaurants I worked in, we'd turn off all the lights except the ones over the straglers' table, and I swear to god I can't remember one time the idiots took the hint. Recently I've been staying at work until 2 or 3 AM, waiting for some jack-ass to finish eating... and sure, it's nice to be paid for waiting around, but at that time of night, I'd rather be at home, y'know?
Ultimately, there are few things in the world better than a boss who's willing to say "The store is closed, my employees need to get home to their families; it's time to pack up your left-over and go home, folks."
I think a lot of the abuse/tension comes from the assumption that somebody coming in five minutes before close will be there for twenty more picking out what movie to rent, what to eat, and then eating it in the dining room instead of taking it to go. In my experience, this is exactly what people do: almost nobody comes in five minutes before close knowing exactly what they want, and they never get it out by close or even five or ten minutes after.
I hope you meant somebody else's other comment; otherwise I mis-spoke, because I certainly didn't mean to give the impression I thought it was appropriate... only that it's a highly probable inappropriate response that one would be well-advised to try to avoid.
As far as burger making goes, special orders can be a hassle, albeit a fairly minor one most of the time. Fast food is assembly-line style cooking; no pickles is no big deal at, say, two in the afternoon, when everything's done individually, but during the midst of a lunch-time rush,
Not to be unfair to the plethora of very smart people working grills, but there are also a lot of dumb people back there who can't handle the additional stress of having to make fifteen hamburgers, each one slightly different from the one next to it. If you want to play on the safe side, count on somebody dumb cooking, not somebody smart. If it's busy, you're really better off ordering straight off the menu--even the bright ones may be irritated by the change in routine.
And for God's sake, don't come in five minutes before close. That's really asking for trouble.
At any rate, I guess I picked a really poor example with the pickles, on account of the food allergy potential you brought up. Let's pretend I said "blue cup instead of red" or maybe "Pepsi products instead of Coke"--I can't imagine how that could violate a law, and if you'd rather have Coke, go to a place that serves Coke instead of berating the kid selling Pepsi.
I'm with you on that, but you've got to be realistic: if you're going to blow up at the clerks, chances are decent you'll get a black mark on your Permanent Record with that store. "Explosive temper, handle with care" might be more appropriate, but the kid who's just been bawled out is not necessarily going to respond with a great deal of maturity. A little cathartic yelling isn't worth a black mark on your account that you'll probably never see, and thus can't complain about.
Good to know, but I was only making an example. They're not state-owned companies, at any rate, and it's my understanding the publicly-owned corporations are allowed to set their policies in a way that's much more like privately-owned companies than state-owned companies. They have to obey an enormous number of laws regarding discrimination and health and safety, but I don't think hamburger toppings are mandated by the federal government. Shit, are you some kind of communist or something?;)
I'm really quite certain (and all you lawyers out there, correct me if I'm wrong) that if McDonald's doesn't want to make custom orders, that's their perogative. I've never been to a McD that didn't allow you to get your cheeseburger without pickles, but if that was their policy, I'm pretty sure it'd be legal.
Well, it all comes down to which party is being stupid. Is it stupid for Ballbusters Video to require a credit card as security on renting, or is it stupid to refuse to provide one for fear of identity theft or whatever? If I refuse to rent to you because you refuse to follow our rental guidelines, and you explode at me, which one of us is in the wrong? Retaliatory "this guy is a serious prick!" comments on your file might be going too far, or they might be perfectly justified.
There are a lot of bad service/bad policy/bad customer problems, and a lot of the comments in this article aren't distinguishing between them. If a Taco Jerk employee charges you $1.49 for a 79c taco, he's in the wrong. If you feel you should only pay 79c for a $1.49 taco, you're in the wrong. If Taco Jerk as a chain over-charges, they company is in the wrong.
Misplaced blame is probably the biggest catch in a lot of customer service complaints. It's not Taco Jerk's exployee's fault if Taco Jerk charges more than you think a taco is worth, and if you're yelling at the kid over that, your anger is misplaced, period.
It is... superfluous!
I bet nobody is going to catch that reference. At any rate, Grub gets a couple points off for the horrible insect reference, but it's great stuff nonetheless.
I forgot to make this point: there is a difference between denying water to the thirsty, and refusing to take off the pickles, just for an example. I'm not sure the pickles are worth making a fuss over. The lines do have to be drawn somewhere; you probably wouldn't last long handing out free hamburgers to the starving, but water doesn't cost more than the price of the cup, and that's negligible.
I was under the impression that it's straight up illegal to refuse water to people needing water. No, you don't have to give out your fancy bottled Tennessee tap water, just a cup out of your own faucets. This may be a Connecticut law rather than federal, or maybe it's one of those widely believed "facts." Either way, that's a policy that needs a letter-writing campaign or picket line.
Boot Camp is awesome, beyond awesome, but it's highly reminiscent of OS/2 and why OS/2 died: why bother building OS/2 native apps if OS/2 runs Windows apps? Code for Windows and you run on both; code for OS/2 and you're wasting your time! With the rumored native Windows support in Leopard, this could get even worse... eventually next to nothing will come out for Mac OS, which will appear to be a huge black eye for Apple. OS/2 was technically superior, too, but if all your apps are for Windows, why not just run the real thing?
"Following orders is no excuse" only applies to war crimes and the like. A privately-owned company, let's say McJerko's, is perfectly within their rights to tell you that you cannot special-order a meal. If you don't want pickles, take your fat ass over to Burger Jerk's instead. Write letters to McJerko's, vote with your dollars, don't take it out on the kid in the kitchen. There's no excuse for "I'm going to be a jerk to get my way, and it's your fault if you want to take the harder route of doing your job the right way."
Exactly. I meant "humiliate the idiot" with a touch of sarcasm, because it's just as over-the-top as jacking off in a guy's food because he was rude. If the clerk can't do his job and it's costing you money or time, maybe something ought to be said--after you get your own business taken care of, to play it safe. To get yourself taken seriously, you might have to act a little angry, but people take it too far and direct it at the wrong people.
He might have misunderstood the policy; in fact, it was probably never properly explained to him. Anybody who has worked just about anywhere could attest to that likelihood. He should be educated about it, maybe scolded, some kind of slap on the wrist; this hardly seems like a case for Serious Consequences.
This is an important distinction: complaining about bad service versus bad policy. Mistreating a clerk because they're not allowed to substitute a large fries for the small coleslaw that comes with your combo is stupid; humiliating the idiot who can't remember what combo comes with what is perfectly justifiable.
You might have a point when you get up to store managers, but even they have very limited power in a lot of chain stores. The wage slave actually manning a register only has any kind of power if the store is run by a reasonable manager, and all you do by yelling at some poor kid is vent your frustrations and get a black mark like "URINATES ON DVDS--DO NOT RENT!!!" on your account.
For that matter, all you get out of talking about policy with peon-level clerks is maybe some sympathetic "uh huhs" and "okays" but the policy won't change and the best they can do is fetch a manager to make an exception in your case--this probably won't happen if you're rude about it. Most of the time, regardless of how calm you remain, all you'll do is hold the clerk up while lines build, other work piles up, and he has to stand there, all smiles, pretending he really, really cares why you think you should be exempt from the policies that are set well over his head.
Seriously, if you're angry enough to make some high school girl behind the register cry over your abuse, take it to the manager. You can even ask to see the manager in your scariest, angriest voice if it makes you feel better about yourself. A store manager may have the power to help you, if they want to, and they're probably seasoned enough to take a little abuse--tell you to fuck off when you well deserve it.
This shit is why I miss washing dishes. The only customers I hated then were the ones with gum.
Unfortunately, the DRM in games often makes it easier to download, patch, and play--no worries about having the right disc on hand, no swapping discs when you switch to another game. Hell, I even crack the stuff I pay for.
This is pure rubbish: to zero-out a Treo 650, all you have to do is hold the power button while pressing reset. When the second Palm logo comes up, release power and hit up on the 5-way to confirm.
Piracy hurts Blockbuster a lot more than it hurts Miramax. I'm willing to download just about anything; I'm willing to pay only for things I like. If I watch something more than once, chances are the second time is off an honest-to-god physical disc. Your outdated ethics are not compatible with these new-fangled internets.
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Good plan! We used to turn off all the lights except the ones over the straglers' table(s), but people rude or dumb enough to come in and dine in that late are usually too rude or dumb to take that kind of hint, too.
Right, because people drinking expensive wine are somehow better and deserving of better service than people drinking Coca-Cola.
Sorry. I'm far too drunk tonight for techinicalities!
Good man! I can't stand shopping for the sake of browsing; but I'm a fairly patient man and I can't count the minutes (or hours) I've spent playing Zelda on my cell phone while my girlfriend browses or tries on clothes. We've both had enough retail experience not to do that when it's close to closing time, though.
Working as a dishwasher, I have particularly loathed people who insist upon staying late... the cooks get to go at closing time, you know, but if some jerk spends and hour finishing his meal, I'm just waiting around for him. Restaurant hours are typically marked quite clearly; you have to be dense or, worse, intentionally dense to sit and eat past closing time. At one of the first restaurants I worked in, we'd turn off all the lights except the ones over the straglers' table, and I swear to god I can't remember one time the idiots took the hint. Recently I've been staying at work until 2 or 3 AM, waiting for some jack-ass to finish eating... and sure, it's nice to be paid for waiting around, but at that time of night, I'd rather be at home, y'know?
Ultimately, there are few things in the world better than a boss who's willing to say "The store is closed, my employees need to get home to their families; it's time to pack up your left-over and go home, folks."
I think a lot of the abuse/tension comes from the assumption that somebody coming in five minutes before close will be there for twenty more picking out what movie to rent, what to eat, and then eating it in the dining room instead of taking it to go. In my experience, this is exactly what people do: almost nobody comes in five minutes before close knowing exactly what they want, and they never get it out by close or even five or ten minutes after.
I hope you meant somebody else's other comment; otherwise I mis-spoke, because I certainly didn't mean to give the impression I thought it was appropriate ... only that it's a highly probable inappropriate response that one would be well-advised to try to avoid.
As far as burger making goes, special orders can be a hassle, albeit a fairly minor one most of the time. Fast food is assembly-line style cooking; no pickles is no big deal at, say, two in the afternoon, when everything's done individually, but during the midst of a lunch-time rush,
Not to be unfair to the plethora of very smart people working grills, but there are also a lot of dumb people back there who can't handle the additional stress of having to make fifteen hamburgers, each one slightly different from the one next to it. If you want to play on the safe side, count on somebody dumb cooking, not somebody smart. If it's busy, you're really better off ordering straight off the menu--even the bright ones may be irritated by the change in routine.
And for God's sake, don't come in five minutes before close. That's really asking for trouble.
At any rate, I guess I picked a really poor example with the pickles, on account of the food allergy potential you brought up. Let's pretend I said "blue cup instead of red" or maybe "Pepsi products instead of Coke"--I can't imagine how that could violate a law, and if you'd rather have Coke, go to a place that serves Coke instead of berating the kid selling Pepsi.
I'm with you on that, but you've got to be realistic: if you're going to blow up at the clerks, chances are decent you'll get a black mark on your Permanent Record with that store. "Explosive temper, handle with care" might be more appropriate, but the kid who's just been bawled out is not necessarily going to respond with a great deal of maturity. A little cathartic yelling isn't worth a black mark on your account that you'll probably never see, and thus can't complain about.
Good to know, but I was only making an example. They're not state-owned companies, at any rate, and it's my understanding the publicly-owned corporations are allowed to set their policies in a way that's much more like privately-owned companies than state-owned companies. They have to obey an enormous number of laws regarding discrimination and health and safety, but I don't think hamburger toppings are mandated by the federal government. Shit, are you some kind of communist or something? ;)
I'm really quite certain (and all you lawyers out there, correct me if I'm wrong) that if McDonald's doesn't want to make custom orders, that's their perogative. I've never been to a McD that didn't allow you to get your cheeseburger without pickles, but if that was their policy, I'm pretty sure it'd be legal.
Well, it all comes down to which party is being stupid. Is it stupid for Ballbusters Video to require a credit card as security on renting, or is it stupid to refuse to provide one for fear of identity theft or whatever? If I refuse to rent to you because you refuse to follow our rental guidelines, and you explode at me, which one of us is in the wrong? Retaliatory "this guy is a serious prick!" comments on your file might be going too far, or they might be perfectly justified. There are a lot of bad service/bad policy/bad customer problems, and a lot of the comments in this article aren't distinguishing between them. If a Taco Jerk employee charges you $1.49 for a 79c taco, he's in the wrong. If you feel you should only pay 79c for a $1.49 taco, you're in the wrong. If Taco Jerk as a chain over-charges, they company is in the wrong. Misplaced blame is probably the biggest catch in a lot of customer service complaints. It's not Taco Jerk's exployee's fault if Taco Jerk charges more than you think a taco is worth, and if you're yelling at the kid over that, your anger is misplaced, period.
It is... superfluous! I bet nobody is going to catch that reference. At any rate, Grub gets a couple points off for the horrible insect reference, but it's great stuff nonetheless.
I forgot to make this point: there is a difference between denying water to the thirsty, and refusing to take off the pickles, just for an example. I'm not sure the pickles are worth making a fuss over. The lines do have to be drawn somewhere; you probably wouldn't last long handing out free hamburgers to the starving, but water doesn't cost more than the price of the cup, and that's negligible.
I was under the impression that it's straight up illegal to refuse water to people needing water. No, you don't have to give out your fancy bottled Tennessee tap water, just a cup out of your own faucets. This may be a Connecticut law rather than federal, or maybe it's one of those widely believed "facts." Either way, that's a policy that needs a letter-writing campaign or picket line.
Boot Camp is awesome, beyond awesome, but it's highly reminiscent of OS/2 and why OS/2 died: why bother building OS/2 native apps if OS/2 runs Windows apps? Code for Windows and you run on both; code for OS/2 and you're wasting your time! With the rumored native Windows support in Leopard, this could get even worse... eventually next to nothing will come out for Mac OS, which will appear to be a huge black eye for Apple. OS/2 was technically superior, too, but if all your apps are for Windows, why not just run the real thing?
:(
I miss OS/2.
"Following orders is no excuse" only applies to war crimes and the like. A privately-owned company, let's say McJerko's, is perfectly within their rights to tell you that you cannot special-order a meal. If you don't want pickles, take your fat ass over to Burger Jerk's instead. Write letters to McJerko's, vote with your dollars, don't take it out on the kid in the kitchen. There's no excuse for "I'm going to be a jerk to get my way, and it's your fault if you want to take the harder route of doing your job the right way."
Exactly. I meant "humiliate the idiot" with a touch of sarcasm, because it's just as over-the-top as jacking off in a guy's food because he was rude. If the clerk can't do his job and it's costing you money or time, maybe something ought to be said--after you get your own business taken care of, to play it safe. To get yourself taken seriously, you might have to act a little angry, but people take it too far and direct it at the wrong people.
He might have misunderstood the policy; in fact, it was probably never properly explained to him. Anybody who has worked just about anywhere could attest to that likelihood. He should be educated about it, maybe scolded, some kind of slap on the wrist; this hardly seems like a case for Serious Consequences.
This is an important distinction: complaining about bad service versus bad policy. Mistreating a clerk because they're not allowed to substitute a large fries for the small coleslaw that comes with your combo is stupid; humiliating the idiot who can't remember what combo comes with what is perfectly justifiable.
You might have a point when you get up to store managers, but even they have very limited power in a lot of chain stores. The wage slave actually manning a register only has any kind of power if the store is run by a reasonable manager, and all you do by yelling at some poor kid is vent your frustrations and get a black mark like "URINATES ON DVDS--DO NOT RENT!!!" on your account.
For that matter, all you get out of talking about policy with peon-level clerks is maybe some sympathetic "uh huhs" and "okays" but the policy won't change and the best they can do is fetch a manager to make an exception in your case--this probably won't happen if you're rude about it. Most of the time, regardless of how calm you remain, all you'll do is hold the clerk up while lines build, other work piles up, and he has to stand there, all smiles, pretending he really, really cares why you think you should be exempt from the policies that are set well over his head.
Seriously, if you're angry enough to make some high school girl behind the register cry over your abuse, take it to the manager. You can even ask to see the manager in your scariest, angriest voice if it makes you feel better about yourself. A store manager may have the power to help you, if they want to, and they're probably seasoned enough to take a little abuse--tell you to fuck off when you well deserve it.
This shit is why I miss washing dishes. The only customers I hated then were the ones with gum.
/. doesn't just need "-1 WRONG," it also needs "-1 No Sense Of Humor."
Reckon I would if there were anything on Steam I wanted to play.
Unfortunately, the DRM in games often makes it easier to download, patch, and play--no worries about having the right disc on hand, no swapping discs when you switch to another game. Hell, I even crack the stuff I pay for.
Intent is the difference between manslaughter and murder, so welcome to George Orwell's America, I guess.
This is pure rubbish: to zero-out a Treo 650, all you have to do is hold the power button while pressing reset. When the second Palm logo comes up, release power and hit up on the 5-way to confirm.
Piracy hurts Blockbuster a lot more than it hurts Miramax. I'm willing to download just about anything; I'm willing to pay only for things I like. If I watch something more than once, chances are the second time is off an honest-to-god physical disc. Your outdated ethics are not compatible with these new-fangled internets.
You just explained why they haven't caught on: you have to make the fixtures and power supplies yourself!