Salon | Letters to the editor

_______________DO YOU WANT ATTITUDE WITH THAT LATTE? BY MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS (10/14/97)

I'm a bartender in Las Vegas and I have some problems with the article by Mary Elizabeth Williams.
First, you only gave two reasons why people in the service industry act the way they do -- they're either too stupid or overqualified. I'm an aspiring writer and have a rich, full life, as you so sarcastically pointed out. I, like so many people, get burned out by people like you. People who aren't in a position of authority at their own job and think that they can shit on the first person they see because they're "inferior" to them in their opinion -- usually someone in customer service is their first target. They are usually the worst tippers, I might add. They treat you with less respect than they would a pimp, prostitute or other dregs of society, in short, with disgust. Day after day this happens to people like me, and sometimes you just don't have a smile for everyone. Luckily I make a good living at it, otherwise I might go off the deep-end. Pity the poor individual who is grossly underpaid, i.e. fast-food workers, Starbucks clerks, etc.
Secondly, if you're getting such bad service at the grilled-chicken-and-Caesar-salad wrap place you eat, STOP GOING THERE! I'm sure there are plenty of places that will make your food the way you like it and treat you politely as long as you treat them the same. It's common courtesy.
Finally, get a life. If you think about this stuff that much, then there is something else going on upstairs. Seek therapy and lighten up. The world is too small and life too short to be bitching about the little stuff.

-- Daniel Smith
"Idiot." "Surly." "Insipid." "Rude, pathological (and) clueless." "Cretins." "Dumb-as-a-post." "Truly stupid person." "Skill-challenged." "Monkeys." I think I see Mary Elizabeth Williams' real problem.
Sure, I've had bad luck with waiters a few times, as I'm sure they've had bad luck with the software I've written. So how is it that I haven't been plagued with Ms. Williams' problems?
Perhaps it's because I treat them with courtesy and respect -- their due as human beings, contrary to what Ms. Williams seems to believe -- and expect that my order will be fulfilled correctly. Perhaps if I tried Ms. Williams' route, I'd get my arrogance, hostility and condescension served right back to me.
I'm not in the service industry, but I have been in the past. I suspect if I were so lucky as to be able to take an order from Ms. Williams, she'd get her grilled chicken Caesar wrap with an extra helping of phlegm. Compliments of her waiter, of course. Who says there's no service these days?
-- S. Ben Melhuish
_______________THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG BY TRICIA ROMANO (10/14/97)

While I agree with Tricia Romano that working retail sucks and that most customers are just this side of brain dead, I have to laugh at her statement: "It doesn't help matters that I am a college-educated young person, with two bachelor's degrees under my belt, forced to work menial jobs that are far beneath my competence level."
How competent can she be if she chose to go after not one but two bachelor's degrees, neither of which leaves her qualified to land a real job in today's market? What did she major in, English composition and history? A big "duh" to anyone who majors in these sorts of subjects and expects to land a job in anything but academia or retail service.
-- Renee Drellishak
SALON | Oct. 17, 1997

R E C E N T L Y+| SATAN GOES TO HARVARD By Mary Gaitskill

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_______________DO YOU WANT ATTITUDE WITH THAT LATTE? BY MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS (10/14/97)
	I'm a bartender in Las Vegas and I have some problems with the article by Mary Elizabeth Williams. First, you only gave two reasons why people in the service industry act the way they do -- they're either too stupid or overqualified. I'm an aspiring writer and have a rich, full life, as you so sarcastically pointed out. I, like so many people, get burned out by people like you. People who aren't in a position of authority at their own job and think that they can shit on the first person they see because they're "inferior" to them in their opinion -- usually someone in customer service is their first target. They are usually the worst tippers, I might add. They treat you with less respect than they would a pimp, prostitute or other dregs of society, in short, with disgust. Day after day this happens to people like me, and sometimes you just don't have a smile for everyone. Luckily I make a good living at it, otherwise I might go off the deep-end. Pity the poor individual who is grossly underpaid, i.e. fast-food workers, Starbucks clerks, etc. Secondly, if you're getting such bad service at the grilled-chicken-and-Caesar-salad wrap place you eat, STOP GOING THERE! I'm sure there are plenty of places that will make your food the way you like it and treat you politely as long as you treat them the same. It's common courtesy. Finally, get a life. If you think about this stuff that much, then there is something else going on upstairs. Seek therapy and lighten up. The world is too small and life too short to be bitching about the little stuff. -- Daniel Smith "Idiot." "Surly." "Insipid." "Rude, pathological (and) clueless." "Cretins." "Dumb-as-a-post." "Truly stupid person." "Skill-challenged." "Monkeys." I think I see Mary Elizabeth Williams' real problem. Sure, I've had bad luck with waiters a few times, as I'm sure they've had bad luck with the software I've written. So how is it that I haven't been plagued with Ms. Williams' problems? Perhaps it's because I treat them with courtesy and respect -- their due as human beings, contrary to what Ms. Williams seems to believe -- and expect that my order will be fulfilled correctly. Perhaps if I tried Ms. Williams' route, I'd get my arrogance, hostility and condescension served right back to me. I'm not in the service industry, but I have been in the past. I suspect if I were so lucky as to be able to take an order from Ms. Williams, she'd get her grilled chicken Caesar wrap with an extra helping of phlegm. Compliments of her waiter, of course. Who says there's no service these days? -- S. Ben Melhuish
_______________THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS WRONG BY TRICIA ROMANO (10/14/97)
	While I agree with Tricia Romano that working retail sucks and that most customers are just this side of brain dead, I have to laugh at her statement: "It doesn't help matters that I am a college-educated young person, with two bachelor's degrees under my belt, forced to work menial jobs that are far beneath my competence level." How competent can she be if she chose to go after not one but two bachelor's degrees, neither of which leaves her qualified to land a real job in today's market? What did she major in, English composition and history? A big "duh" to anyone who majors in these sorts of subjects and expects to land a job in anything but academia or retail service. -- Renee Drellishak SALON \| Oct. 17, 1997