Yeah, I have a few "stupid people" stories too from work over the years. And crabby customer ones as well. Man, people drive me nuts sometimes. Did they not ever hear that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar? I mean really! Frig. It constantly amazes me how people turn into boorish butt-wipes once they encounter a service-industry person on the job. They wouldn't talk like that to a complete stranger on the street, so why a complete stranger who is wearing a uniform? Boggles the mind. Then there are those people who try to make you feel about three inches high...well, news flash all you snotty people, it ain't gonna work. The thing is too, though, that really pisses me off, is that one cannot expect any sort of real defense from one's superiors either, even in the face of abuse at hands of said customer. In the pursuit of the almighty dollar deceny and fairness go out the windoew. My step-mother used to work at A&W many, many years ago as a waitress. One evening a customer made some lewed comments about her...attributes. She dumped the entire platter of cold food (it was supposed to be cold, but I forget just what it was now) into his lap while making a smart-butt remark about his need to cool his ardour a bit. Well, the irate man went to the manager to complain, but the manager/owner had no sympathy for the man. One, it was Judy, so her superior knew that they guy had to have done something really bad to anger her that much, and two, the scope of the guy's remark. The customre was not "always right" and he was, in fact, banned from all A&W restauarnts in town and under the management/ownership of Judy's superior. Now, a few days/weeks ago, one of the customres at DQ made a smart-butt remark to one of the girls. Around the same time, roughly, there was that guy who was giving me a hard time when I was trying to save him a few dollars on his order (my roomate, who works part-time in the hospitality industry, said that I should have just charged him what he wanted even though the way that I was going to ring it in would have saved him money on the same product, and "serve him right for being such a dick.") I bet you a dollar to a dozen donuts that you'd never see anything like that take place where we are...excepr from maybe one or two people, who shall remain namless for obvious reasons. (Sticking up for us to rude or obnoxious customers, I mean.) I was thinking earlier this evening when some..stuff...was going on, that either we should be paid more than we are considering the sort of crapthat we have to put up with, or all of those people who are rude and mean to service industry workers should have to work a few hours in their shoes to see what it is like. There are people who might respond to this post by saying that one has a choice to work in the service industry and put up with crap, or not. But I would say to them; "Oh really? Here in the Maritimes? Really?" Even on the rare occasion when I do have a genuine complaint, I try to frame it in such a fashion so as to save face for the employees. Common courtesy and manners go a long way, really. Now that I have ranted a bit, there was that customer tonight who was so grateful for the fact that I gave her a large ice-water at no charge, when she was expecting to have to pay for it, that she left me a large tip in the tip jar. Or that dear old lady who was sor happy to have someone call her a cab that she hugged me! Well, she was worth it, she was one of those customers that you cannot help but want to go half a dozen extra miles for because she has not forgotten the common coutesies--that go well beyond a perfunctory "Please and thank you." People surprise you sometimes. :)