I was a youth in the '80s and the '90s. Those decades seem like the Golden Age compared to the past two decades. In fact, they feel like Paradise Lost when I look at this contemporary "Idiocracy" Inferno. Am I alone in this?
You are not alone. I see you woke up. After years of dealing with those who came behind us to populate our society, I have only come to a few conclusions:
ALWAYS GET THEIR NAME AND LOCATION.
1. If you take it out on them verbally, then you're finished. Don't waste any more time on it.
2. Never, ever hesitate to ask for a supervisor if you've got the time. It will save you hours of otherwise frustration. The supervisor will usually be reasonable.
3. If you take it out on their receipt's online survey, you're finished. Waste not another moment of energy on them.
4. Remember, if you have their name, you can always complain later on the phone in your pajammies or whatever. So, try to get through the moment & get your needs met.
5. Whoever loses control loses the game. Don't let them alienate or mob you, so stay calm and take it up with a supervisor. In today's economy, there are few supervisors and even fewer employees. When the boss isn't looking, employees can basically do whatever they want if they meet their stats and obey the law. So, two selfish, rude employees theoretically can treat you anyway they want if they don't get caught. And once in a while, they do. The best way to prevent such mistreatment is to keep your side of the street clean by not interrupting, not being hostile and keeping your body language neutral or positive.
6. These people play hardball. Keep your side of the street clean, have your facts completely ready and half memorized, anticipate their objections before you confront them, and re-state yourself calmly without interrupting them. Take the extra time to start at step 1 for these imbeciles, as they have no common sense. Preface what you say with a cordial statement and finish anything they might perceive as edgy with an up-swing in your voice to a sincerely pleasant comment. GIVE THEM NO REASON TO SHAFT YOU. GIVE THEM NOTHING, NO AMMO TO USE AGAINST YOU.
7. If things go south but are salvageable then try to go at it with a supervisor.
8. If things are not salvageable, at least purchase something so you get the online survey or the cashier's employee number on the receipt.
9. Remember there are other competitors or you can go online.
10. Sometimes it's worth commuting further to a branch that is more reasonable in general.
11. Always leave on a positive note if you can - if the tide is against you, do complain to a manager. But try hard to leave graciously. Don't give them a reason to be rude to you. Don't make it easy for them to mistreat you.
12. Legal or not, you can record interractions from your cell, for personal use to see where things went wrong, or for other reasons. Some businesses have signs that say "no recording or filming" but most don't. Each state has different laws, but in my state all you have to do is tell the person you are recording. You don't ask. You tell. It's on them; if they don't want to be recorded, they don't have to talk.
13. If you have a really strong case, you can call the police on the spot. I don't know the history behind it, but I once saw an officer tell a restaurant manager to put more prawns in a customer's soup even though the customer had left the premise with the soup and gone to his car. He seemed like a good customer, pretty normal loooking. The thing is, future retaliation could be very subtle so all the more reason to retain composure, be polite but firm, and try to keep rapport going.
14. Sometimes they really are just "snowflakes", people raised all wrong, given praise for every little thing they did as a child, but not given the experiences that develop empathy.
You and I were raised when people still remembered the days when a parent was home. Many parents WERE home. My mom only worked a little outside them home. None of our friends' wives worked outside the home. The divorce rate was low; divorce was still considered sinful (although religion has always granted divorce in cases of emotional, sexual or financial abandonment).
Compare that to nowadays when little tiny children start day care at less than a year old. Every day care I've heard of in the last couple years has a multitude of problems. Saddest of all, to me, is how little tiny children have to get up at 5 or 6AM in order to be at daycare before their parent's workshift starts, even though school doesn't actually start until 8 or 9AM, so the child should be able to sleep 8 hours. Add to that how the divorce rate has skyrocketed, single parenthood is common, and many working people do their errands after work -- which means the little child that got up at 6AM to get to daycare before preschool or elementary school also is at Walmart until 9PM at night or later sometimes, depending on car repairs, urgent care visits, etc... When I see fatigue lines on the faces of children ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc... it just breaks my heart. I just hate their parents' situations. Add to that how more people are moving / crossing state lines looking for work, how more workers are required to work 12-24-hour shifts or to travel for work, etc... Office workers are being recruited to lift 50lbs routinely, administrative assistants are expected to also wear the hats of tech support and payroll, everyone has vacation/personal time but no one can use it, and so on. This is the world they younger people grew up in. They have no patience. No one had any patience for them. What our society did to the children of the millineum and beyond was wrong. It was no way to raise people.
When we are old, the people who will feed us, sponge bath us, turn us in bed, etc... as a group are not very nice people. Everyone, please pray that God will find solutions. As it stands, I saw my country turn into Mexico around the millineum and I now see my country's workforce being turned into China. I don't see anything to stop employers from disregarding the 40-hour work week as well as all the other stabilizing benefits that people in the U.S. Labor Movement fought & died for.
