If you get mad when you see employees at a business you are patronizing laughing, enjoying each other's company, and goofing off, you're a dick. Empathize with people working a shitty underpaid job, and let them enjoy what little fun they get.
@RickiTarr That people will, for real, complain if cashiers are sitting in chairs while working is mind boggingly selfish and horrible to me. Didn't even think about how it's fairly common in most places outside the U.S. but rarely, if ever, seen here, at least in chain or big box stores where it's policy.
@RickiTarr@kerouac666 Technically, OSHA says if your job requires you to stand and a chair will not impede your work, then a chair should be offered. But employers don’t care.
@kerouac666@RickiTarr I am really surprised that there is not an OSHA regulation against it. There is absolutely no reason a clerk can't be seated, most of the time. They may have to get up to scan certain merchandise.
In fact there is no reason that reasonable accommodation cannot be made for wheelchairs. There is no reason the register station cannot be set up to put the clerk at eye level when seated.
@samhainnight@kerouac666@RickiTarr Maybe we need to figure out how to address this. This is unnecessary physical stress on the employee. As was pointed out, this is mainly a problem in big box stores. Frankly, complaining to them is like spitting in the ocean...even their website.
Directly to OSHA?
Letters to the editor?
Maybe, if a journalist is reading this, he or she could write an article about it.
@ralph058@kerouac666@RickiTarr It was CalOSHA where I read it, albeit years ago. But yes, it needs to be addressed. Standing for 8 hrs a day can cause back pain, foot pain and increases fatigue. They’re work related injuries that are easily preventable and in the case of the ADA, a chair or stool is a reasonable accommodation.
@kerouac666@RickiTarr the ugly thought many people have is that ‘they don’t deserve to sit down’. the further down the employment/wage ladder, the more people have their dignity stripped away.
@kerouac666@RickiTarr when walmart tried to expand into germany, the workers were like "what do you mean i don't get a chair? how do you expect me to stand all day, this is ridiculous." and the unions in germany don't mess around. ultimately walmart just gave up and pulled out -- we'd rather pay our cashiers super shitty wages and make them stand all day than accommodate you snooty europeans who think you deserve to be treated like humans even though it costs us more. the nerve, honestly!
@rothko I experienced this working in the often unionized entertainment industry, too. A friend had to fight tooth and nail to get 50 bucks of overtime she was legally owed, and I think it's because they're so terrified that if they buckle on one little thing it'll open the floodgates to correct all the other outrageously abusive behavior, so even the smallest overtures of empathy and goodwill are rejected as if they're unreasonable demands.
@RickiTarr When I was an 18 year old floor supervisor at a very busy multiplex, I got a strange performance review. Some managers thought that, even though everything always got done well when I ran the concession stand, it didn’t look like my staff was working hard. I’ve been WTF on the notion that work shouldn’t be fun my adult life.
Ooc: I love seeing people having the freedom to have fun at work. I never need a serious sandwich.
Kinda related but on the flip side of this, I used to try to ask questions and crack jokes and engage with people while they were doing crummy jobs. I had major "Suburban Dad with Popsicle Stick-Quality Jokes" energy in my early twenties--I was destined for greatness. I know exactly where I got it from: my mom is the kind of person who can make lifelong friends while checking out at Costco.
I stopped after a girlfriend of mine pulled me aside and told me that I absolutely needed to knock it off, that scooping popcorn and scanning groceries are bad enough without having to entertain customers, and that any more talk than is strictly necessary is an abuse of the power dynamic between customer and employee. She called it "humiliating for everyone involved." I can't say that I agree with that, but it stuck with me and I can't enjoy interacting with workers anymore. I still feel like the world's biggest piece of shit when I have to ask a clarifying question or do anything more than pay and leave.
I think it's perfectly good for people to whistle while they work and have a fun time, but I need to leave myself out of it. I still feel bad and weird in a "maybe I should go to therapy" sort of way whenever I get a chatty clerk or server.
@LRRRonEarth@RickiTarr I try to say something nice or kind to whoever is checking out my groceries or what have you, because you never know who’s having a crappy day and needs to hear that.
@RickiTarr Dude I will never understand this mindset. The camaraderie of the staff at the local Waffle House was like 70% of what made it such a pleasant place to be.
My job is to teach kids to play chess. I literally just play games all day, and preparation for work is playing more games!
Whenever I get asked about it, the first reaction of all Aussies has been something like.."really? Wow, amazing, how cool." and then they usually talk about a Grandfather or Aunt who used to play chess.
I guess I've been lucky, but no one has ever looked at me weirdly, or judged me for playing games with kids all day 😀
Are you getting helped in a timely fashion by cheerful people? Yes? End of story.
Why would anyone patronize a place without any joy? C'mon.
"Yes, I would love an order of resentment with a side of passive-aggressive and hold the temper. My wife will have the thing she always has when she can finally get your attention."
@RickiTarr I quit a toxic environment recently because the other colleagues would reprimand us for enjoying ourselves occasionally. Nobody ever brought those weirdos to task.
I always feel so bad when I roam into a place and people jump to attention. I appreciate the attentiveness but guys - I really like the song playing, we can bop together for a moment while you finish your convo!
@RickiTarr@lisamelton We get people complaing all the time about employees “just standing around, laughing and joking”…
I work at a ferry terminal, directing/loading vehicles on to boats. Ahead of each arrival/departure, we are at our assigned stations waiting to start. So you’re standing there with 2-4 other eomployees, waiting.
WTF do people expect us to do!? Stand there like soldiers at attention!? 🤦🏼♂️🤬
@RickiTarr when the wal-mart self-checkout asks me to rate my experience I get paranoid that if I give a 5 they’ll use that as a sign to cut staffing but if I rate 4 they’ll give an employee a bad rating. So now I only give a 5 when there’s at least four employees standing around doing nothing.
@RickiTarr By the same token, please don't expect the staff to be overjoyed you're buying whatever product or service. Polite, professional are resonable expectations but you're not their best new friend and it's effort keeping that act up for a shift.
@RickiTarr
Anybody who doesn’t like seeing people enjoying a moment of laughter or camaraderie while doing their job should just go crawl back in their hole and stay there til they die.
@RickiTarr Heh. Saw the closing crew at Starbucks laughing and joking, and it made me smile.
Find what joy and pleasure you can, when and where you can find it. And be happy for those who do so.
@RickiTarr The food, the drinks, the atmosphere, yes, all of that matters. But I've always been spoiled for choice everywhere I've ever lived. What really matters to me -- what makes any joint somewhere I go all the time -- is the people.
And it baffles me when anyone doesn't see how how much an enjoyable staff adds to the experience. Whether they're hanging with you or with each other. Good vibes either way.
@RickiTarr Oh my god, and now I'm thinking of the WORST customer I've heard about in a while.
One of my favorite hangouts has a fantastic group of bartenders. We're all pals and they tell me stuff haha. One of them just said she was having a quiet side conversation with one of the other bartenders about a problematic process. Which a random customer somewhat overheard, misinterpreted as criticism of a manager, and then RATTED THEM OUT to that manager. Not just a killjoy busybody narc but wrong.
@RickiTarr I and 4 other people once at work were told to "keep it down". it was 6:30am, we were among the first people in that room, the only person there was the complainer who sat halfway across the room. But he was a manager. I fucking refuse to apologize for laughing with people I actually liked being with.
@RickiTarr
Personally I feel WAY more comfortable walking into a situation where humans are being humans, rather than tight-lipped corporate ass puppets.
@RickiTarr
I enjoy seeing that stuff. I don't care if there's a five second delay to help me if the people are making an effort to enjoy their shitty jobs.
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