Today's Oprah-Are you rude?

[KLC77]

I saw bits and pieces of this show. I'm a chronic channel changer. lol The part I liked best was when the guy said if you ask for a different table at a restaurant you are being rude because the hostess has everything mapped out for the night and you are throwing the plan off. He was so right. If you've never worked in a restaurant you would never even think of it, but its true. When someone asks me for a different table it means I have to find a server to wait on them and someone to then clean it at the end of the night or deal with servers wondering why they got skipped in the rotation. I think most people think where they are being seated is random, but its not.

 

Obviously I work in a restuarant. There are a LOT of rude people, both customers and coworkers. And I'm sure at times I am one of them. lol Oh, and I totally think that leaving less than 15% is rude. That should be standard and anything above that should be for excellent service. In CT waiters don't have to be paid minimum wage so tips are how they make money for the night.

[Lillie09]

I didn't see the show (I wish I did). As a teacher I can say that there are so many rude parents! They have no idea what we do for their children and how we want the best for their children. My coworkers and I get nasty letters all the time about such stupid stuff!

[Cattie]

Working in the casino industry I encounter MANY rude people. Dealers at the casino also, like waiters/tress make below minimum wage. They count on tips also. People think they are there to take there money, we're not. There's a big sign as you walk in "For Entertainment Purposes ONLY!" We really don't care if you win or loose, unless you are a real jerk!

 

Don't get me wrong, I can be rude myself, but only when necessary. Today we where car shopping, I really wanted to tell the guy to leave us alone, we just want to look around, but I didn't. When Comcast decided to turn my cable off after I paid my bill even though they knew the payment was being drafted out of my account but still wouldn't turn me back on, I was quite rude and asked the supervisor to over ride the system. When he told me he couldn't, I had to ask him what he could do and what he supervised!

 

Sometimes, I think you can only get somewhere being rude, most people in this day and age think its ok to be rude all the time, which is uncalled for. Especially when someone is doing there best to accommodate you.

[rodent]

I watched the first part of this episode. Here are all the questions i can remember & my answers

 

Are you chronically late? NO! and i can't stand people who are. the only time I'm late is when I know I'm meeting up with a chronically late person.

 

Have you ever stolen someone else's parking spot? never. In college, parking was such a PITA so there was very strick parking ettiquette.

 

Have you ever went in the express lane at the supermarket with more than the designated amount of items? Yes, but accidentally. or if i was too lazy too count, but assumed i was at 10.

 

Have you ever typed an email while on the phone? probably, but i don't have conversations on the phone while emailing. I usually just do both when I'm dealing with telemarketers.

 

Have you ever answered the phone while having a face-to-face conversation with someone else?

I think this one depends on the situation. If I will only be talking to someone a short while, i won't answer the phone. but, if i've been hanging out with someone all afternoon & the phone rings, I'll answer just to let the person calling know when i'll call them back.

 

I think it's rude when you are mid-conversation with someone & they take a phone call to just chat with someone else. especially if you are making an effort to spend time with a friend.

 

There might have been a question about texting while talking to someone else. With the popularity of iphones this is really starting to bug me. i find it insulting when someone is haivng a text conversation with someone else when you are trying to talk to them. briefly replying to a text is fine with me if it's important.

 

have you ever gossiped? Yes, probably too much.

 

can anyone remember more?

[rodent]

I've never thought about switching up tables. I'm not sure if I do this, but I only would if there was a big problem with the table they wanted to sit me at.

 

I think everyone needs to do a minimum wage job where you don't get treated with respect atleast once in their life to learn how to treat others. I've done fast food, worked at a marble slab & been a cashier. People can really treat you like you are an idiot who doesn't deserve respect. It bothers me when people assume someone working a register isn't intelligent.

 

I hated working retail. I was so bored most of the day. but occasionally someone would be so friendly to me & it would really perk up my day. not just fake, small talk friendly, but truely friendly. so i try to be extra nice to people working service jobs hoping it makes their hour a little nicer.

 

the hotel WC told me people treated her so bad, she was surprised by how nice mike & i were to her. she messed something up and was shocked we didn't yell at her. it was such a minor problem. she said people have thrown things at her before.

[KLC77]

I also remember she said something like people thought that 80% of Americans were rude, but 99% of people said that they themselves weren't rude. It was something like that... showing that most people thought it was everyone else and not them but the %'s didn't add up right.

 

Ooh, and I think the RUDEST thing is if you answer the phone while we are at dinner together (or lunch or breakfast). It drives me insane. Unless you have kids and one of them calls you, there is no real reason to answer every call you get just to say hi to someone while you're out with me. My FI used to do this all the time until I put my foot down and told him how rude it is. I didn't go to dinner to sit there in silence while I watch you talk on the phone! You can call them back later.

[DallasAshli]

I am watching this right now on tivo! Haha...and catching up on BDW

 

I have an opinion on this because....what is rude to one person is not rude to another. That's why you can say 80% of people are rude, but you aren't one of them. I am all for good manners, but manners are different based on your gender, age, location, likes, dislikes, culture, etc, etc.

 

I had no idea asking for a different table was rude! Therefore, to me (before today) it was not rude.

 

I love the saying "common sense is not common".

[1elephant]

i'm rude when people are rude to me. i hate when i go into a store and am not greeted or told to have a nice day. i did it when i worked retail...even if i wasn't having a nice day. i'll be obnoxious in return.

we're normally great tippers and never ask for a different table.

i'm a teacher as well and get the rudest parents and children who all believe that they are entitled to anything they want, regardless of the effects on the children.

i hate when you say excuse me politely and the person doesn't move. then the person in the way gets mad and huffy that they have to move. on sunday, i was driving in a nearby city and there was a car w/ it's hazards on IN THE LANE waiting for someone. we honked. and waited. and honked. and waited. and couldn't go around b/c of traffic. the person didn't even acknowledge me until his buddy came back to the car and deliberately took his time getting his sweatshirt off and seatbelt on.

 

it's quite common to hear me say "i hate people".

[~*Kathy*~]

I didn't catch this episode of Oprah but hopefully I'll see a rerun of it sometime. I find it very interesting and I agree that a lot of people need much better manners in their everyday lives.

 

It's interesting that you ladies bring up the service industry jobs and how poorly people are treated in these jobs. I worked for a retailer part time during high school and some of the people there were the worst.

 

There's a website I like to read from time to time called notalwaysright.com, it's true tales of rude and just plain stupid people and the wonderful people who live to tell the tales of stupidity and ignorance. Check it out if you're ever bored, you'll laugh, cry, and cringe. In fact, most of the time you'll probably pee your pants laughing.

[Pisces]

I find it appalling that there is no minimum wage for restaurant servers in the US. In Canada minimum wage is mandated for ALL jobs, regardless of whether they are typically a tipped job. So, I normally give 15% tip anyway, but I do not feel bad in the slightest if I receive poor service and choose to only tip 10%. Sadly, we have servers in Canada making more money than nurses and teachers because they make so much in tips (I've worked both jobs, I know the paycheques!)

 

As a teacher now, I find it incredibly rude when parents show up after school or at lunch to talk to you about their child without making an appointment. When the kids leave at 2:30 I need a break, not to mention the chance to mentally prepare for a meeting about your child. And I need a lunch hour like everyone else!