To think everyone is so rude nowadays.

[Elfie111]

I just returned home from a shopping trip in a large shopping mall (can’t say where as would be outing) - 😂 not really, it was Bluewater.

I just want to know why everyone is so hostile. I know this has been discussed before but is it really the post Covid bad attitude / no social skills or awareness.

I was making my way out of a changing room with a pram this morning and a mother and adult daughter blocked both aisles to leave the changing room and then glared at me. I waited for them to move as they seemed as though they were quite invested in being aggressively in the way/ I was a massive inconvenience for wanting to exit the changing room. Normally I would say ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry’ (I know people hate this as why am I apologising for being alive) but today I thought - I’m not even going to speak. You know you’re in the way. You’re both glaring at me and instead of getting changed in the cubicle you’re in the gangway with open mouthed gormless stares.

In my experience people behaving like that is more and more common now.

Does anyone have a similar experience?

I hate how rude people have got. Someone barges into you they just walk off. No one says thank you when you give way to them on the pavement. When you let a car out they don't even acknowledge you. End of my road has cars parked on one side, cars just come flying through regardless of right of way. People cut you up on the roads and pretend they didn't see you.

Even on here people will post a snotty reply because you prefer x contestant to y contestant or have a different opinion to them.

I actually really like a hard or heated discussion, but a lot of it here is really just name calling and picking on the OP for things that have nothing to do with the actual topic they've posted about. It's like people come on here just to vent their rage and will take any opportunity to do so. They don't actually care or have anything to say about the subject being discussed. They just get a kick out of the pile on and being able to say things they would never be able to say (or have the guts to say) in real life.

There is a time and place for interacting with others on their terms and not your own. I don’t care about people asking for charity donations when I am out and about but in my own home, I should be able to set the terms.

And you are right, I could just not answer the door - but when they can tell I am in, it would be rude to ignore them so I stop what I am doing to interact with them. Even if only for a couple of minutes, I don’t think I should have - so yes, I think it is rude and intrusive.

how do they know you are in? Even if they can tell, it’s entirely up to you whether you answer your door or not, I never do if I am not expecting anyone. I don’t think it’s being rude at all, rude would be shouting and swearing at them for calling at your door.

Why answer the door tgen?

A very good point. Don't know why I don't do that actually. Maybe habit.

I actually agree. I don't think people should be cold calling, trying to sell door to door. I'd like it to be banned. Obviously, I am lovely and polite to those who do call but it's a nuisance to be frequently explaining to pushy people that I don't want to change my broadband provider.

Well when I worked in retail serving the customers came first.

When 3 assistants are discussing Christmas window decorations and there's a massive queue developing with the only person on the till, there is something wrong.

I do get that if you need to get a delivery out it needs to get out, but I guess that has also changed, because in one of my Saturday jobs I used to get in an hour before the shop opened to fill the shelves. I guess they won't pay people now.

I open an upstairs window and ask them what they want. Not very good advice if you live in a bungalow though!

The most aggressive drivers I have encountered are in Bracknell and Reading.

However, I don't drive in London!

Because when they worked in shops you put the customer first?

I don't expect people to risk their lives with dangerous checkouts, but why have they not been fixed? A similar example - my local leisure centre has "landside" toilets on the public side of the ticket barriers. One of them has been out of order for 5 weeks now. Not remotely acceptable. I realise why, they probably have a contract with a company which will take months to get to it, but it would be much more efficient to get a local plumber in!

People just get annoyed because customer service is rubbish and because of the entshittification of everything.

We each have designated job areas, mine isn’t on the till, at times when I have gone on the till because customers have asked me too, I have been took off again by my manager, I can’t win 😂

I do not trade with door2door sellers, those utility companies that have a stand in shopping centres.

I lived in a ground floor flat where it looked like a house - the upstairs flats’ entrances were at the back. When returning home from work, a CF replacement window door2door came up to me and said why haven’t I changed the upstairs windows

Another thing, Jehovah Witnesses. Why do they go round door to door? Back in the summer, I had 3 JVs come round and I had a blood test a couple of hours prior. I said I donated blood today and they quickly left

It’s like anything. If anything requires parts, sometimes you have to wait. A third party (the manufacturer of the tills) comes to fix the checkouts. Someone at the contractors ordered the wrong part. Supermarkets and other shops do not have spare parts for the tills. Just till rolls.

The broken checkouts cannot be blamed on the staff at the shop.

Problem with the leisure centre toilets and public toilets is that they are heavily used. They need (if there is such a thing) industrial strength toilets. At home, a family of four with two toilets during the week, toilets are used 25-30 times a day. Whereas these toilets are used about 10-15 times more

Still doesn’t help in why the council get someone to fix a job then claim the money or forward the invoice to council office

Staff in most places aren't hired to look after customers, they're hired for, and expected to work in a way that, maximises profits and minimises costs.
Of course that pisses customers off, but seeing as the only fall out is the staff they're employing (on zero hours contracts, for shit wages and in poor conditions - to maximise profits) baring the brunt of the dissatisfied customers, the people benefitting from the profits have absolutely no reason to change the way things are done.

People need to shop and buy things, and people needs jobs so there'll be customers and there'll be staff, both being taken the piss out of - but of course it's a really quick way to vent frustration at it all to accuse the people working there of just being lazy and not caring and that's why there's a problem with shit service, not that it's being designed this way to maximise profits.

You need to move away from the se, so much more friendly away from there.

Staff leave without being replaced. This causes burnout, creating MH issues, getting shouted at by customers,

Customers say “why don’t you get more staff?” First thing the staff you see on the shop floor have no control or input about this, Then manager needs to ask someone higher up to recruit staff. That usually gets blocked.

Then when there are new shops opening or existing shops recruiting, there aren’t as many applications. I personally think it’s down to three main reasons

1. People don’t want to work in retail due to rude people - includes both people who have worked and not worked in retail.

1. The contracts don’t give enough hours. My previous employer only issued 12 or 16 hours contracts to new workers. People want more than that. Had good hardworking workers that started on 16 hours contracts but they said that it will increase up to 28. Nine months later, they didn’t get longer contracts so leave.

1. Many staff don’t drive so use buses. Sometimes the hours offered don’t suit the bus timetable. Being asked to work til 10pm when the last bus is 8:30pm. Also don’t offer hours suitable for working school hours like 10-2.

I actually think this is really interesting. We hear all the time now that people find very minor interactions irritating or stressful or anxiety inducing. It's perfectly normal to have people occasionally knock on doors..far less so now than before the internet made the digital equivalent so easy. If you're working or just busy, ignore it, that's fine, but if you do open it, just say, no fine thanks, just switched providers or I already donate or whatever. It shouldn't be a big deal. I worry that do many normal things are now seen as huge problems.

I was chatting to an elderly couple on my street the other day when a young woman walked towards us and barged through the middle of us, giving a loud, pointed sigh and muttering something about us being in the way as she went. She could easily have walked around us (it would have taken all of three extra seconds) or simply said excuse me.

I agree with this. Especially when they don’t take no for an answer if you say you’re busy etc.

Having said that, I’d be delighted if the poster upthread selling poppies knocked on my door asking me to buy one ☺️

The level of customer service is abysmal.

That was me.

Not trying to be awkward but I don't ask people to buy one, I ask if they would like to. This is why I find it rude to have the door slammed in my face.

Anyway, let me know where you live and I'll pop round with my tray. 😃. Thank you for being so nice.

I would have said "you could have walked around" but I am guessing this woman that barged through had her hair scooped up into a bun high on her head. I have no idea why these women who have their hair up in tight buns seem to have an attitude problem. Served many in my 17 years. Plus have the tendency to swear at their young DC "you are not fucking having that"

I had an extraordinary interaction yesterday. Semi crowded pavement and a woman came towards me engrossed in her phone. We almost bumped and I sidestepped saying sorry. She turned round and said “that’s OK” The entitlement from the Queen of the pavement was extraordinary.

Different shop. Autograph is M&S.