There are plenty of FB groups and communities dedicated to wait staff and airline staff, where they can vent about customers. Most of the time, I don't quite understand what they are so on about. For example, there is a meme about an airline passenger being unable to get into the bathroom with a pic of a flight attendant laughing. Huh?
I read these things, and my first thought is, "You ARE customer service--no doubt about it--so why are you complaining??" It's not like you've just finished up a rapid response on someone, and you are getting yelled at because you didn't bring fresh water to someone fast enough.
I just don't get it. Everyone is entitled to vent about demanding people in customer service, but my compassion meter is broken when someone in customer service is having a fit over a passenger or customer asking for a glass of water.
Does anybody here doubt that nursing is a service job? Nurses where I work are reprimanded more for not using AIDET, than any other nursing duty we have.
I have family members who are cashiers, and being called stupid, lazy, and ugly, happens daily. Most people have no idea.
The examples you provided are trivial and nothing for service workers to complain about. However, I worked in a restaurant for 3 years during high school and the first half of nursing school, and some of the behaviors that customers exhibit can be mind boggling. I once had a table that was two men, and when their pizza came out, they said that it didn't have enough pepperonis on it (despite the fact that we use a chart to determine how many go on a pizza, so the amount one gets is consistent). I explained this to him and gave him the option of paying less than a dollar for a side of cooked pepperonis that they could distribute as they saw necessary. They rudely declined and ate their food. After they had left, I noticed they had each dropped a piece of pizza on the floor and smeared it (presumably with their feet) into the carpet. This is the kind of **** that warrants social media rants. And it's the kind of vile behavior that every server will experience at least once.
Still, I would rather wait tables than be a flight attendant any day.
I worked for a couple days, and this thread exploded!
The example here is definitely a customer service *** moment.
But, I was reading a flight attendant FB page about the locks on a lav door. I don't get it...c/o having to clean the lav after someone uses it. I guess we can give then all Foleys and rectal tubes on the way to Australia? Or the c/o having to find overhead space for a bag? Well, the problem started when the airlines charge 50 bucks for each checked bag!
Thats the the kind of stuff I don't understand. The normal, usual stuff that's a part of customer service but is a source of irritation.
You don't agree...fine. But some of you got super ******. Jeez..
Please, spare me the job description I had for several years before I became a nurse. But you're pretty much a terrible person if you arent the least bit unforgiving to your 100% human, and usually very busy server who didnt being you your 5th soda refill on time before your meal even came out.
I don't think that's what the OP was saying at all. It was pretty obvious the OP downplayed their right to vent because these people aren't doing chest compressions for a living.
And 99% of the time, neither are the rest of us. So.
No, my point was, wait staff is IN customer service--as is retail and fast food and flight attendants--and I don't get the c/o the usual, normal stuff dealing with CUSTOMER SERVICE. A waiter ******** about the customer who wants yet another glass of water....vs.
....when an ER nurse is dealing with an ICU-level patient, but the person with the cold in the next room is yelling about not getting another cup of water fast enough, his/her irritation with that is more understandable re: customer service.
Its the the focus of the job that leaves me shaking my head. Customer service vs. Monitoring someone's health.
I don't know how to explain it any clearer than that.
I worked for a couple days, and this thread exploded!
The example here is definitely a customer service *** moment.
But, I was reading a flight attendant FB page about the locks on a lav door. I don't get it...c/o having to clean the lav after someone uses it. I guess we can give then all Foleys and rectal tubes on the way to Australia? Or the c/o having to find overhead space for a bag? Well, the problem started when the airlines charge 50 bucks for each checked bag!
Thats the the kind of stuff I don't understand. The normal, usual stuff that's a part of customer service but is a source of irritation.
You don't agree...fine. But some of you got super ******. Jeez..
"You" who? I said I agreed that the examples you listed originally were trivial, like complaining about customers wanted water. The reason people got annoyed is because you made it sound like waitstaff/flight attendants don't have any reason to complain about their job because nurses deal with more severe situations. That's what I got from it, anyway.
PS: Customers need to obey the rule of carry-on bag dimensions and bag limits. If all flyers were to do this, there would be no issue with overhead bin space. However, people don't, and I see oversized carry-on bags every time I fly. It doesn't bother me because I just bring a backpack that can go under the seat in front of me, but if I actually had a bag that I needed to stow away then I would be perturbed that someone's 3rd, oversized bag was preventing me from stowing mine. Saying that airlines started charging ridiculous amounts for bags does not justify this behavior. It's like when people used to try to sneak their own 2-liters inside the restaurant where I worked because they thought drinks were too expensive (despite unlimited refills, which is virtually everywhere in the USA and hardly anywhere else in the world). Just as it wasn't my fault that the restaurant charged so much for a drink, it isn't the flight attendant's fault that there's limited overhead bin space or stringent requirements as to how big bags can be. Yet they catch **** for it.
"You" who? I said I agreed that the examples you listed originally were trivial, like complaining about customers wanted water. The reason people got annoyed is because you made it sound like waitstaff/flight attendants don't have any reason to complain about their job because nurses deal with more severe situations. That's what I got from it, anyway.
PS: Customers need to obey the rule of carry-on bag dimensions and bag limits. If all flyers were to do this, there would be no issue with overhead bin space. However, people don't, and I see oversized carry-on bags every time I fly. It doesn't bother me because I just bring a backpack that can go under the seat in front of me, but if I actually had a bag that I needed to stow away then I would be perturbed that someone's 3rd, oversized bag was preventing me from stowing mine. Saying that airlines started charging ridiculous amounts for bags does not justify this behavior. It's like when people used to try to sneak their own 2-liters inside the restaurant where I worked because they thought drinks were too expensive (despite unlimited refills, which is virtually everywhere in the USA and hardly anywhere else in the world). Just as it wasn't my fault that the restaurant charged so much for a drink, it isn't the flight attendant's fault that there's limited overhead bin space or stringent requirements as to how big bags can be. Yet they catch **** for it.
What I meant was that everyone now has a carry on, so there isn't enough bin space. You can't tell me that even if everyone kept to the space limits, that there is ample bin space for everyone...there isn't!
What I meant was that everyone now has a carry on, so there isn't enough bin space. You can't tell me that even if everyone kept to the space limits, that there is ample bin space for everyone...there isn't!
I wish I could definitively say that 'yes, there is', but seeing how there's always ONE person who wants to drag on 4 oversized carry-on bags, I'll never know.
I am reading this thread as I relax after a grueling night at work. I am so grateful for having worked as a server many years ago, because I learned such a great deal about people, and their behavior. On a night like tonight, when I am bombarded with demands and requests, I remind myself that at least my hourly wage is no longer $2.13, plus tips! Server minimum wage was $2.13 back in 1997-98. Does anyone know if it has been raised? I always overtip at restaurants because I remember how stressful serving the public can be! And besides, now I have a comfortable salary, so I should be a great tipper! Servers typically have a great deal of self-control, which is a good thing when a customer is yelling that their sirloin had better be well done, and how dare they be charged 35 cents for a slice of cheese on their burger! Anyone considering a career in nursing could learn valuable self-control and multitasking skills by working as a server!
Fawnmarie, server minimum wage is still $2.13. In Oklahoma, at least. I have heard that other states pay servers the federal minimum wage (7.25) such as in Oregon, but I never verified these claims.
@ sjalv, that is incredible that $2.13 is still server minimum wage, after all of these years! I always felt like we should have been paid $5 per hour, at least, before tips. When I moved on from waitressing, I decided to take a CNA class, because the idea of making $10 an hour (guaranteed) was appealing to me.
No, my point was, wait staff is IN customer service--as is retail and fast food and flight attendants--and I don't get the c/o the usual, normal stuff dealing with CUSTOMER SERVICE. A waiter ******** about the customer who wants yet another glass of water....vs.
....when an ER nurse is dealing with an ICU-level patient, but the person with the cold in the next room is yelling about not getting another cup of water fast enough, his/her irritation with that is more understandable re: customer service.
Its the the focus of the job that leaves me shaking my head. Customer service vs. Monitoring someone's health.
I don't know how to explain it any clearer than that.
Right. You proved my point exactly.
Wait staff get treated like garbage too, and I will forever defend their right to complain, regardless of how menial you think their responsibilities are in comparison. AGAIN, it will be reiterated for you that these people don't complain about getting you a glass of water. They complain when the customer is extraordinarily rude and takes a giant dump on them simply because they can.
I will throw in another side point: I'm not sure anyone chooses to work in customer service. It's simply what there is if you haven't gone to college for a degree in something else. Think about the top ten jobs you could work as a 16 year old with no work experience... I bet at least nine of them are customer service. People who don't have the money to go to college, don't qualify for scholarships, don't qualify for crazy student loans, have a bunch of kids and no one to watch them during college, etc., end up in customer service jobs. I don't think it's quite fair to compare that to nursing. We all chose to do that, or we wouldn't be here. I don't think a person could be successful in nursing school or as a nurse if that person didn't want to be successful.
Wait staff get treated like garbage too, and I will forever defend their right to complain, regardless of how menial you think their responsibilities are in comparison. AGAIN, it will be reiterated for you that these people don't complain about getting you a glass of water. They complain when the customer is extraordinarily rude and takes a giant dump on them simply because they can.
If you want to intentionally misinterpret what I'm saying, then there is nothing I can do about that.
imintrouble, BSN, RN
2,406 Posts
Does anybody here doubt that nursing is a service job? Nurses where I work are reprimanded more for not using AIDET, than any other nursing duty we have.
I have family members who are cashiers, and being called stupid, lazy, and ugly, happens daily. Most people have no idea.