What grinds your gears?

[AfRoMaN36]

Starbucks customers on the upper east side of Manhattan.

 

I've worked in a Starbucks both downtown manhattan and uptown and I must say, uptown is much MUCH worse.

 

Where as the customers downtown generally tend to be rude, ghetto and in demand of fast service, it's expected. Downtown Manhattan in general is a very fast paced environment so actual customer interactions in a busy store are limited. But uptown.... those people grind my gears.

 

That crowd is the rich, over-privalaged, Sex and the City crowd who constantly walk in with their dogs (And pick a fight when told they're not allowed to) They are beyond a reasonable doubt the most anal people who feel entitled to us tending to their every little whim and who are oblivious to the life of the working class as long as they get their 'half-caf grande, soy, semi dry, 180 degrees cappuchino.' Going their reminds me every day of the huge gulf in the lifestyles of the poor and the rich and how I wish to never be like this should I ever move up in the world.

 

That also leads into my next annoyance: Customers who take 'the customers always right' too seriously, or who think it's an excuse to abuse my co-workers or myself. Yes, the customer should without question be tended to with courtesy, friendliness and legendary service; part of our job at Starbucks (as were told) is to make sure the guests leave highly satisfied. That does not however, warrant the customer to treat us like walking mats. We are human beings struggling to make a living and should be treated as so. Being upset because your drink was made wrong and your service was bad is understandable, shouting at me or my co-workers because we aren't allowed to break a $50 bill is abusive and makes you look like an idiot. I'm a manager at my store and while I always intervene when an incident between an employee and a customer occurs, if I sense the customer is being unfair, I will always side with my employee. For one, if I always side with customers, even the irrational ones, it sends a clear message to my co-workers that I'm not their for them. I'm only interested in the profit and they're just worthless pawns. I want them to be happy when they're on the floor so they're more efficient so I would never do this. Most importantly, while it's important to 'save a lost customer' I would never do so at the expense of a co-worker. Losing a customer will cost my boss less money than it will cost to hire and train a new employee because the old one quit. So yeah, the 'customer is always right' mantra is soundly untrue.

[CQI13]

That reminds me, I go to Starbucks a lot, and I've seen this. Funny as hell, but if I worked there it would grind my gears:

 

Women who come in and order, and while they're waiting, they keep looking at their watch. Then they say "Can you hurry? I'm already late!"

 

Well, if you're already late, maybe you should have NOT stopped at Starbucks. Plan accordingly.

[AfRoMaN36]

That reminds me, I go to Starbucks a lot, and I've seen this. Funny as hell, but if I worked there it would grind my gears:

 

Women who come in and order, and while they're waiting, they keep looking at their watch. Then they say "Can you hurry? I'm already late!"

 

Well, if you're already late, maybe you should have NOT stopped at Starbucks. Plan accordingly.

 

YES! In fact, I've had the exact same woman in my old store come in and complain that she's late for her meetings and that we missed her drink. She kept doing this until we realized she never stood on line to order a drink, she instead just stood at the end of the bar to con a drink out of us.

 

Coffee is very srs business apparently

[Trashbear]

 

That also leads into my next annoyance: Customers who take 'the customers always right' too seriously, or who think it's an excuse to abuse my co-workers or myself. Yes, the customer should without question be tended to with courtesy, friendliness and legendary service; part of our job at Starbucks (as were told) is to make sure the guests leave highly satisfied. That does not however, warrant the customer to treat us like walking mats. We are human beings struggling to make a living and should be treated as so. Being upset because your drink was made wrong and your service was bad is understandable, shouting at me or my co-workers because we aren't allowed to break a $50 bill is abusive and makes you look like an idiot. I'm a manager at my store and while I always intervene when an incident between an employee and a customer occurs, if I sense the customer is being unfair, I will always side with my employee. For one, if I always side with customers, even the irrational ones, it sends a clear message to my co-workers that I'm not their for them. I'm only interested in the profit and they're just worthless pawns. I want them to be happy when they're on the floor so they're more efficient so I would never do this. Most importantly, while it's important to 'save a lost customer' I would never do so at the expense of a co-worker. Losing a customer will cost my boss less money than it will cost to hire and train a new employee because the old one quit. So yeah, the 'customer is always right' mantra is soundly untrue.

 

I'm reminded of my years in the hotel industry...working the night shift on a very, very busy night, a woman checked in and was shocked to learn that she had booked the luxury suite, not a regular room. She booked it online, so the mistake was entirely hers. She'd stayed with us before and was a monumental pain in the ass, but she'd never gotten abusive with the staff...until me. Despite my record of excellent service, I don't take kindly to personal insults, and I proceeded to send a volley of personal insults back at her, including chiding her for parking in a handicap spot when she had no visible ailment. She informed that she was recovering from cancer treatment (doubtful) so I responded with "Well, it's too bad you haven't died, you're such a lovely person."

 

Long story short, we were independently owned and operated so there was no corporate office to whom she could complain, and since my boss didn't like her either, she got charged for the night and I got off scot-free. One of my happiest customer memories.

[Self]

OMG NEIGHBORS.

 

Totally. I just got home from a busy day's work, and my neighbour is playing her violin. Badly. I don't know if there's an amp strapped to it, but it's really loud, and she'll play at incredibly annoying times. Last night I was settling down to sleep at an early-for-me 11:30PM, when she started mangling... some violin tune. They all sound the same. She's also into tribal music, and put a trampoline in our shared garden, that regularly attracts local children. Nothing grinds my gears more than the SOUNDS OF HAPPY CHILDREN!!!

 

Long story short, I'm moving. She isn't the only thing wrong with my place, but I could tolerate everything else.

[CQI13]

What grinds my gears? People.

 

Probably why the whole internet dating experiment was a fiasco.

[RingofHonorGuard]

Totally. I just got home from a busy day's work, and my neighbour is playing her violin. Badly. I don't know if there's an amp strapped to it, but it's really loud, and she'll play at incredibly annoying times. Last night I was settling down to sleep at an early-for-me 11:30PM, when she started mangling... some violin tune. They all sound the same. She's also into tribal music, and put a trampoline in our shared garden, that regularly attracts local children. Nothing grinds my gears more than the SOUNDS OF HAPPY CHILDREN!!!

 

Long story short, I'm moving. She isn't the only thing wrong with my place, but I could tolerate everything else.

 

I suggest smashing her over the skull with said violin, doing a Honky Tonk Man juke and jive, and then using the broken instrument to mark a gigantic torn X through the trampoline... And if the kids are by chance eating ice cream, I fully expect you to take said ice cream, eat a few bites, and then throw it on the ground... Then you skip away humming the tune your neighbor was -trying- to play on the terrible instrument.

 

Why should you have to move due to a terrible human being ruining YOUR living experience. Get even. Life's too short to move every time someone irritates you. Eventually you have to smack life in the mouth and get some respect.

[RingofHonorGuard]

 

This never gets old...

 

Mauro "Brown Stain" Ranallo, everyone.

[Self]

Why should you have to move due to a terrible human being ruining YOUR living experience. Get even. Life's too short to move every time someone irritates you. Eventually you have to smack life in the mouth and get some respect.

 

There's a lot of factors to me moving. The place is small. TV reception is poor. Parking troubles. The novely of hardwood floors has worn off. I broke the toilet. I can afford much better. It's time I split... but she's the straw that broke my back and gave me the kick up the arse I needed to start house hunting.

[RingofHonorGuard]

There's a lot of factors to me moving. The place is small. TV reception is poor. Parking troubles. The novely of hardwood floors has worn off. I broke the toilet. I can afford much better. It's time I split... but she's the straw that broke my back and gave me the kick up the arse I needed to start house hunting.

 

Ah, okay. That's righteous then. I've seen people who have ideal living conditions up and leave their place and move elsewhere just because their neighbors were intolerable. Still... hitting your neighbor in the face with her favorite instrument would be awesome as a going away present. At least give it some thought.

[brashleyholland]

People who wear Affliction/TapouT shirts and act like idiots, giving actual fighters and combat sports in general a bad name.

 

Sorry for the rant, but something just reminded me of this.

 

I while back I was at a small pub, having a couple of post-training bevvies with some guys from my gym. It was a quiet pub, we were keeping ourselves to ourselves. Two idiots, one decked out from head to toe in TapouT, the other wearing an Ultimate Fighter jersey, were basically being your standard pub idiots, bumping into people, getting lairy at the staff and patrons and for some reason telling people that they "boxed in the UFC". Right. As time wore on they were getting verbally abusive and were warned, then asked to leave, which they refused to do. The landlord say they had one more chance, after which he'd call the police.

 

Now, we're not the most imposing looking bunch of blokes, truth be told we look fairly geeky/unassuming as a group. Anyway, it was our turn to get singled out for the 'witty banter'...when ended up with one of these meatheads stepping back and sandwiching the smallest member of our group on his way back from the bar, causing him to drop the four pints he was carrying. Unfortunately, this small fella was Robbie Olivier, former Cage Rage British featherweight champion.

 

Anyway, Robbie took this guy's legs out from under him and double legged his mate quick as a flash, by which point the other seven of us had got over to him. It took the eight of us, the landlord, and two other guys to get the two of them out of the door and there was a fair bit of mess created in the process.

 

Mr TapouT bailed, but the other just wouldn't let it go. We'd all stayed in the doorway of the pub while the landlord explained to him that he was barred for a week, but would be allowed back if he just went home now. He ended up headbutting the landlord out of knowhere and Ian, who was our grappling coach and the only on of us even remotely similar in size to this caveman, had to take him down and choke him out so we could pin him down until the police arrived.

 

A couple of days later there was a small article in the local paper about a pub getting it's windows put through. The only reason I'd even looked at it was because the title was "Cage Fighters Ransack Pub". I couldn't believe it, but I was reading about the scuffle that had taken place a few days prior, only now it was "...two teams of rival cage fighters..." and "bloody brawl spilled out of the cage and into the pub". It also said that after the fight, bricks had been thrown through the pubs front and side windows and that "Cage Fighters were now barred for life".

 

I was so annoyed that I rang the pub to find out what was going on. All we'd done is help get two idiots out of his pub and save him from getting a pasting and now the group of us were supposedly banned for life, as well as being made out to be a bunch of pub-smashing hooligans. He was really apologetic about the whole situation as it turned out. About an hour after we'd left, some guys put bricks though the windows, One of them was Mr TapouT from earlier on, who was identified from CCTV footage after not bothering to get changed before committing criminal damage.

 

Apparently a couple of crazy regulars (y'know, the all-day drinkers) had spoken to some student who wrote for the local paper who happened to be there, blaming us 'cage fighters' (the irony being that only Robbie amongst us had ever competed in a cage) of fighting 'UFC boxers' and generally smashing the place up...lovely. A couple of local MMA gyms and boxing clubs got visits from the police later in the week, warning them to advise their members not to go out in big groups after training causing trouble...

 

...all because two idiots were wearing TapouT. THAT, grinds my gears.

 

Rant over

[Remianen]

I'm reminded of my years in the hotel industry...working the night shift on a very, very busy night, a woman checked in and was shocked to learn that she had booked the luxury suite, not a regular room. She booked it online, so the mistake was entirely hers. She'd stayed with us before and was a monumental pain in the ass, but she'd never gotten abusive with the staff...until me. Despite my record of excellent service, I don't take kindly to personal insults, and I proceeded to send a volley of personal insults back at her, including chiding her for parking in a handicap spot when she had no visible ailment. She informed that she was recovering from cancer treatment (doubtful) so I responded with "Well, it's too bad you haven't died, you're such a lovely person."

 

Long story short, we were independently owned and operated so there was no corporate office to whom she could complain, and since my boss didn't like her either, she got charged for the night and I got off scot-free. One of my happiest customer memories.

 

THIS IS AWESOME!

 

Had a similar thing happen years ago when I moonlighted at the front desk of the Omni Berkshire Place (wanted to learn the hotel business so I worked for free. My day job at KPMG was literally a 5 minute walk down the street). Someone came in insisting that they had reserved a Berkshire suite (they hadn't) and that they were a VIP (they weren't). We had a Madison suite available that I COULD have upgraded him to but with the fuss he was making, I put him in the worst room in the hotel. "I'm sorry sir, we're fully committed tonight."

[Trashbear]

THIS IS AWESOME!

 

Had a similar thing happen years ago when I moonlighted at the front desk of the Omni Berkshire Place (wanted to learn the hotel business so I worked for free. My day job at KPMG was literally a 5 minute walk down the street). Someone came in insisting that they had reserved a Berkshire suite (they hadn't) and that they were a VIP (they weren't). We had a Madison suite available that I COULD have upgraded him to but with the fuss he was making, I put him in the worst room in the hotel. "I'm sorry sir, we're fully committed tonight."

 

Oh, everyone's always a VIP. "Do you know how often I stay here?" Yes, you idiot, of course I have all of that data available. Six times a year does not put you on the same level as the business travelers who are here every week, the owner doesn't know you, and I'm not giving you anything off the rate.

 

I could regale you with many tales, like the time a drunken wedding party comprised of local guidos wanted to fight me because I had the audacity to tell them to quiet down. Oh, those magical night audit shifts.

[CQI13]

More gear grinders: People who can't spell. May have been mentioned already, but I had a funny story to go along with this.

 

I used to work at this place that had the reader boards (where they put the week's specials). Anyway, one store in the district was advertising "CANED HAM" -- wasn't even the store I worked at, but I had to stop by and tell them to fix it. Worst offender was a mattress store (with mattress in the name) that spelled it MATTRES on the advertisement. I used to call stores that I noticed had spelling mistakes on the advertisements they put up. Sadly, where I live now, there is a lack of those reader boards. No more fun.

[RingofHonorGuard]

People who wear Affliction/TapouT shirts and act like idiots, giving actual fighters and combat sports in general a bad name.

 

I'm with you on this one. I'm not going to say I don't own any, because I'd be lying. I have a few Tapout shirts that I've purchased, but I only wear them when I'm actually going to a fight, and most of them are Tapout shirts with a fighter on it... Not the newer age ones with "tough guy" stuff all over them.

 

I can't stand seeing people walking into fast food or a gas station wearing a Tapout shirt, especially when they're trying to look hard doing so. And don't even get me started on Affliction... Anyone who spends $50 on a t-shirt has issues, period.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/6/6d/Football_vs._handegg.JPG

 

Thank you! Listen rest of the world, I'm sorry you all chose to put your love into the most boring sport ever and now feel obligated to defend it, and that the United States completely rules you in every other sport ever conceived, but really you're not fooling anyone. Soccer sucks.

[moon_lit_tears]

Thank you! Listen rest of the world, I'm sorry you all chose to put your love into the most boring sport ever and now feel obligated to defend it, and that the United States completely rules you in every other sport ever conceived, but really you're not fooling anyone. Soccer sucks.

 

 

No!

 

Golf sucks, Soccer comes in second.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

No!

 

Golf sucks, Soccer comes in second.

 

Here's the thing- golf and bowling get passes because you can drink and still participate. Golf even gets bonus points because you get to try to jump sand dunes in a cart.

[moon_lit_tears]

Here's the thing- golf and bowling get passes because you can drink and still participate. Golf even gets bonus points because you get to try to jump sand dunes in a cart.

 

Hey hey hey You crossed the line there T. It's on!

 

I love bowling. I suck but I love it.

 

Yes well it IS more fun when I can drink.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

Hey hey hey You crossed the line there T. It's on!

 

I love bowling. I suck but I love it.

 

Yes well it IS more fun when I can drink.

 

I like bowling too, I'm just saying it's free from ridicule because of the drinking aspect.

[moon_lit_tears]

I like bowling too, I'm just saying it's free from ridicule because of the drinking aspect.

 

Are you any good?

 

 

I hate those guys who when they bowl a strike they clap there hands REALLY loud.

 

It always seems to happen when I go to release my ball and makes me miss my mark.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

Are you any good?

 

 

I hate those guys who when they bowl a strike they clap there hands REALLY loud.

 

It always seems to happen when I go to release my ball and makes me miss my mark.

 

I went a couple weeks ago for the first time in a while and bowled a 113, 128, and a 117. So in short... I suck.

[moon_lit_tears]

I went a couple weeks ago for the first time in a while and bowled a 113, 128, and a 117. So in short... I suck.

 

 

I've been bowling in a league for 6 years now.

 

Two nights a week and my averages are 127, 136 I don't do so well.

 

My highest game ever is a 235.

[Mr T Jobs To Me]

I've been bowling in a league for 6 years now.

 

Two nights a week and my averages are 127, 136 I don't do so well.

 

My highest game ever is a 235.

 

When I bowled in the jr. league, I averaged a 140. I got kicked out along with a couple of my friends for taking our weekly dues out of the envelope and leaving after the owner yelled at us for bowling like jackasses though. Ironically, though it was supposed to be a lifetime ban, that's where I bowled 2 weeks ago.

[The Celt]

People who wear Affliction/TapouT shirts and act like idiots, giving actual fighters and combat sports in general a bad name.

 

Sorry for the rant, but something just reminded me of this.

 

I while back I was at a small pub, having a couple of post-training bevvies with some guys from my gym. It was a quiet pub, we were keeping ourselves to ourselves. Two idiots, one decked out from head to toe in TapouT, the other wearing an Ultimate Fighter jersey, were basically being your standard pub idiots, bumping into people, getting lairy at the staff and patrons and for some reason telling people that they "boxed in the UFC". Right. As time wore on they were getting verbally abusive and were warned, then asked to leave, which they refused to do. The landlord say they had one more chance, after which he'd call the police.

 

Now, we're not the most imposing looking bunch of blokes, truth be told we look fairly geeky/unassuming as a group. Anyway, it was our turn to get singled out for the 'witty banter'...when ended up with one of these meatheads stepping back and sandwiching the smallest member of our group on his way back from the bar, causing him to drop the four pints he was carrying. Unfortunately, this small fella was Robbie Olivier, former Cage Rage British featherweight champion.

 

Anyway, Robbie took this guy's legs out from under him and double legged his mate quick as a flash, by which point the other seven of us had got over to him. It took the eight of us, the landlord, and two other guys to get the two of them out of the door and there was a fair bit of mess created in the process.

 

Mr TapouT bailed, but the other just wouldn't let it go. We'd all stayed in the doorway of the pub while the landlord explained to him that he was barred for a week, but would be allowed back if he just went home now. He ended up headbutting the landlord out of knowhere and Ian, who was our grappling coach and the only on of us even remotely similar in size to this caveman, had to take him down and choke him out so we could pin him down until the police arrived.

 

A couple of days later there was a small article in the local paper about a pub getting it's windows put through. The only reason I'd even looked at it was because the title was "Cage Fighters Ransack Pub". I couldn't believe it, but I was reading about the scuffle that had taken place a few days prior, only now it was "...two teams of rival cage fighters..." and "bloody brawl spilled out of the cage and into the pub". It also said that after the fight, bricks had been thrown through the pubs front and side windows and that "Cage Fighters were now barred for life".

 

I was so annoyed that I rang the pub to find out what was going on. All we'd done is help get two idiots out of his pub and save him from getting a pasting and now the group of us were supposedly banned for life, as well as being made out to be a bunch of pub-smashing hooligans. He was really apologetic about the whole situation as it turned out. About an hour after we'd left, some guys put bricks though the windows, One of them was Mr TapouT from earlier on, who was identified from CCTV footage after not bothering to get changed before committing criminal damage.

 

Apparently a couple of crazy regulars (y'know, the all-day drinkers) had spoken to some student who wrote for the local paper who happened to be there, blaming us 'cage fighters' (the irony being that only Robbie amongst us had ever competed in a cage) of fighting 'UFC boxers' and generally smashing the place up...lovely. A couple of local MMA gyms and boxing clubs got visits from the police later in the week, warning them to advise their members not to go out in big groups after training causing trouble...

 

...all because two idiots were wearing TapouT. THAT, grinds my gears.

 

Rant over

 

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