I know this is a somewhat controversial topic but I wanted to throw in my thoughts as someone that’s worked the majority of my working years in the service industry. I’m sure everyone reading or listening to this has heard at least 10 million times by now “this place closed early because nobody wants to work anymore, this generation is just lazy and wants handouts blah blah”. Sure, some people ARE lazy and just wanna fuse into the couch, it happens, who really wants to spend their time working anyway?
Some people were taught to “pull yourself up by the bootstraps, be a man” blah blah blah… If this is you, that’s great, I’m glad you stick to your ideals and have fantastic work ethic (really, I mean it). The thing is, I don’t think it’s fair to push this onto others. I’ve never heard it said in a friendly way like “oh man it’d be great if you put in more effort and worked more hours to provide for your family and give back to the community”. It’s always stated as FACT or even a bragging point, “you’re lazy if you don’t work 70+ hours and have no home life”. Thing is, more and more people are coming out and saying “nah, I just want to do my own thing, actually live my life and enjoy my free time”, to that I say, “heck yeah! do your thing, don’t let anyone stop you!”.
RANT OVER, back to my point. My thoughts on why “nobody wants to work”. I worked the majority of my working years in customer service, overall I enjoy working with the public and the work typically isn’t so bad. Keyword here is “TYPICALLY”. When you have a bad customer, it ruins your whole day, week, hell it even sours some people permanently. The majority of rude customers I’ve experienced have never worked in a retail environment, they don’t know the rules, procedures, the corporate end of things. They just see the cashier (you) and assume that you’re the face of the company. That means any issues they have, well that’s your fault. You can’t do the thing they want because of store policy? You’re a piece of garbage and they hope you die. They don’t know how to use the thing they purchased? “well a**hole, it’s broken and it’s your job to replace it, I hope you and your family choke on your dinner”.
This seems extreme right? Well, it is. We wonder why there’s a decline in mental health and why “nobody wants to work” in the service industry. There you have it, taking daily abuse from strangers over things out of your control is not a proper way to live. It’s unfair to the workers, especially when they’re ordered to take it with a smile for a non-live able wage. I’ve had people threaten “I’ll be waiting in the parking lot”, I’ve had people vandalize my car and co-workers cars, break products in my face, threaten to kick my a** over the counter. The list goes on and on.
So if you are one of the many people saying nobody wants to work, THIS is what it’s like. Now, I don’t want to discredit that there are some amazing people out there. I’ve made close friends with some regular customers and when you see them come through that door, it’s a great day. Being nice to people in the service industry goes a long way, a friendly compliment, saying “hey no worries, I know you’re trying” when things are going wrong for the employee, none of this goes unnoticed and makes a big difference in that persons life (no matter how small you think it is).
Thanks for tuning in to my rant. Any questions or comments, drop it down below and I’ll be happy to discuss. Thanks!