They just. Did. Not. Seem. To. Care.
No smiling. No banter. No small talk or polite conversation.
Just this blank look on their faces.
You sit there and think “did they hear me”?
You ever so politely repeat yourself in case they didn’t.
But they did. They got it. There’s just no engagement. Face colder than a which's tit. No refills of your water. No "would you like another coffee?
Like, hello!? Is anybody in there? Is anyone home? Why are you all moving so slowly? Shouldn’t you be rushing the joint taking orders and filling coffees?
When I was young it was drilled into us: when you’re waiting tables and taking orders. You work your way up from "dish pig" to front of House. You basically run round busy as a bee, trying to impress your boss, trying to win your guests over. Taking wagers of who might get a tip.
Can I help you, sir?
What more can I get you?
You’d help the elderly into their seats.
You’d bend over backwards to make everyone happy.
And these guys are on atleast $23 an hour.
And I know what you’re thinking. Maybe I’m the a-hole. Maybe I’ve forgotten mum’s many sermons on good manners and etiquette?
So I asked the people who I was out to lunch with. They all thought the same thing. I asked friends who are teachers. I asked parents with kids around that age.
Guess what? They’ve all noticed the same thing happening.
Hell, there’s even a tiktok trend called ‘the gen Z stare’…. Which describes what I saw at the cafe… the vacant look a Gen Zer gives in response to a question or statement. If it’s in tiktok then it must be a thing, right?
So the question is why?
Was it covid? Was it everyone wearing masks? So much of how we communicate is through facial expressions. Maybe they’ve missed out in years of social queues and norms? Is the smartphones? Is it both?
Or, maybe, just maybe, they just don’t give a shit?
Maybe we have on our hands a generation of young people who don’t really think they NEED to be bothering with mundane things like work.
Disclaimer: this is is obviously not an entire generation of young people. And some people are just shy. I get that. We've all had excellent experiences. But... ya know.... is this a thing you too have noticed?
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
11 comments:
I agree. Entitled little s#$&s. Because these idiots think they should be on $150 an hour. They will be finishing their degree on some obscure maori plant and will think that they know everything about everything but really they are just more dangerous idiots probably suited to hipkins and below. If they are really radical they might be trying out for the greens, but the real dumb ones will be aiming for tpm.
Which witch?
I have never believed that the customer is always right - often they are rude, entitled and cheap and I’m glad people in customer service no longer need to bend over backwards to accommodate these selfish people. However, I agree with Ryan that we seem to have come too far the other way - all the Covid-era employers trying to hang on to their staff resulted in sycophantic behaviour that had led to rude and entitled staff. There is a middle ground to find here.
Was that in auckland? If you go to thr south island it is different. I was in chch and the coffee/ service was noticably better. They all look a bit depressed now though I reckon. Lack of a joie de vivre that I remember we all had.
Which’s tit???
Ryan, the next time you are in a similar location, may I suggest the following -
- firstly (again) note age of staff attending tables
- observe any (yes any) interaction between them & other customers
- have your cell phone ready
- if/when they serve your table ask them for their cell phone number
- once obtained then use that number to communicate you requests/wishes etc
- observe their reactions/actions from that point
- if the "communication" via cell phones works - use again.
Yup, communication by cell phone seems to be more important that "verbally talking" to people. Even when they are standing next to you!
One of the greatest "feedback" that a business can get, is when a customer returns to their store.
If that customer does not return, then it has to be assumed that the staff interaction/service was not up to standard.
Your incident is but one of many that occurs across NZ on a daily basis.
And when you next interview a business owner, who has to have staff to interact with customers ask -
- how they train their staff to accomplish this
- do they re check with staff, regularly, to see that they are working to accommodate customers
- do they listen to customers 'who may have a genuine grievance' and what do they do about it??
Quote: "...But... ya know.... is this a thing you too have noticed? ...". NO..!! My experience has been almost universally positive over the last 3-4 months. But then, I have been living in Malaysia and Thailand.
Yes, I have noticed this - very much since Covid. Lots of businesses have signs up saying that you (the customers/patients) must be polite to the staff - but it doesn't seem to work the other way. Not a good start.
And as an old lady (over 80), I got cancelled (kicked out) from the medical practice that I have attended for about 50 years because I voiced an opinion (no free speech allowed). My doctor has resigned and when the young male on reception told me I had been 'allocated' to a nurse practitoner, I was quite shocked and told him that I'd prefer to see a doctor, so he argued with me, and I explained that I believe that doctors have had so much more - and different training - at a much higher level, and as it's so hard to get into med school, they are generally brighter than nurses. But no discussion with the 'manager' who rudely rang to tell me all my medical care was withdrawn. No allowance for the fact that, as a patient, I might have mental health problems or dementia - or, indeed, both. So much for the Hippocratice Oath.
If you talk to overseas people about their NZ experiences they rave about the friendly people and the great service. Must be pretty rough where they live.
i suppose they tire of seeing so many customers who they perceive as inferior but who having owned a house for15 years, or had some soft secure govt job, or made a fortune contracting to a Council, appear to be much more comfortably off than likely they will ever be.
Anon 10:55am “Colder than a witch’s teat” is a phrase I first came across in a book by Spike Milligan entitled “Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall”. I don’t know whether Spike created the phrase or borrowed it from elsewhere.
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