I have worked very very many customer service jobs since I was able to have a job and it has never paid for emotional labor, never. I have always made minimum wage or have been considered low income, or very low income, at every single job I’ve had for the past 22 years. How is it considered emotional labor to say “hi”, “that’ll be $20”, “have a good one”? It’s wild to me that that is considered too much for someone working a public facing job to do. No, I don’t think you should kiss my ass. No, you don’t have to be all smiles, or even really show emotion at all. No, you dont have to go the extra mile. But is literally just giving an acknowledgement that the person in front of you exists too much emotional labor anymore?
I’m gonna preface that this is gonna be a long-winded ass response so my apologies for that. If I get an “I’m not reading all that” I wont be mad lol.
I’m not meaning to talk down on or talk shit on Gen Z people, most of my very close friends are in that age range so I don’t have this sweeping generalization that applies to everyone, my experience has been very specific to customer service, and it’s like half the time, not every single time either. I am also very explicitly talking about acknowledging the existence of other people in a job environment where someone willingly applied for and accepted a job that they know the function is to interact with the public. Not expecting people to do the whole song and dance shit that people were and are forced into. I just very genuinely do not understand why there is so much push back as if it’s completely unacceptable to expect someone to just say hello to someone.
So yeah, they are over worked and underpaid, but that’s been the case for literal decades and it’s strange to me that people seem to just jump to that as the reason and seem to forget that capitalism didn’t spontaneously develop in 2020 and that people have been exploited for decades. I began working just a couple years before the 2008 recession. When I was 27 I was making so little that I was splitting a 2 bedroom apartment with 5 people. Until I quit my most recent job I was close to qualifying as “very low income” according to the city’s standards and I could not afford even a studio apartment. I grew up with my electricity shut off with all the groceries stored in a camping cooler so that child protective services wouldn’t take me away from my mom. I am autistic and have always dealt with social anxiety and shyness. Despite that, I have worked very many customer service jobs beginning at 15 years old and I went into it knowing that I would need to interact with other people. That’s the entire purpose of being a cashier. So why take a job where you have to interact with people if you absolutely hate it to the point where you don’t even want to interact with other people at all?
Imo, interacting with people can also be a way to make your job less miserable. Shitty, asshole customers will ALWAYS exist and they will treat you like shit regardless of how you act towards them. But sometimes interactions with strangers can be really fun. I have had many customers that I would look forward to seeing, or I would crack jokes with, or complain about the state of the world, or they would just be super kind. They might turn my day around or at the very least make time go by faster. It’s like you’re possibly denying yourself potential moments that might make the work feel a little less excrutiating. Sometimes those few cool people would be the only thing getting me through my day because my boss fucking sucked ass and it was so monotonous.
I think what really gets me on this, too, is that people will simultaneously say “people are terminally online and need to touch grass”, but when it’s pointed out that it’s worrying that people can’t even communicate in the most minimal ways, then it’s “oh but they shouldn’t be expected to interact with people”. So which is it? I don’t think that people should be disciplined for not having sunshine shoot out their asses. I do think that it’s fine to only put in the effort you think is commensurate with your wage. Quiet quitting and time theft are dope. I guess more than anything it’s just troubling to me that people seem to not think it’s important to practice very basic communication skills with strangers and get downright defensive if it’s suggested.
Perhaps I really just don’t understand the significance of COVID lockdowns and I wish I could hear some anecdotal experience from someone who feels like it did really change how they communicate. Perhaps it’s an overcorrection as everyone can hop on social media and see that capitalism is garbage and how it’s decaying every day. I admit that there is probably some old-man-shaking-fist-at-the-youngters “back in my day” shit going on but I do really try not to fall into that. Idk, I’m not trying to shit on people and say that they are bad for lacking social skills, but that it does seem much worse and that maybe it should be something folks should work on
Yeah, could be a variety of things. And I mean, what I’m talking about is something ive only seen a handful of times but when I have it was just VERY noticeable to me. All that said we all have our stereotypes. Gen Xers were apathetic and cynical, millenials were just cringe… We all have our things lol
I have worked very very many customer service jobs since I was able to have a job and it has never paid for emotional labor, never. I have always made minimum wage or have been considered low income, or very low income, at every single job I’ve had for the past 22 years. How is it considered emotional labor to say “hi”, “that’ll be $20”, “have a good one”? It’s wild to me that that is considered too much for someone working a public facing job to do. No, I don’t think you should kiss my ass. No, you don’t have to be all smiles, or even really show emotion at all. No, you dont have to go the extra mile. But is literally just giving an acknowledgement that the person in front of you exists too much emotional labor anymore?
Yeah honestly they’re over worked and under payed and probably burnt out from working three jobs to split a 2 bedroom four ways.
I’m gonna preface that this is gonna be a long-winded ass response so my apologies for that. If I get an “I’m not reading all that” I wont be mad lol.
I’m not meaning to talk down on or talk shit on Gen Z people, most of my very close friends are in that age range so I don’t have this sweeping generalization that applies to everyone, my experience has been very specific to customer service, and it’s like half the time, not every single time either. I am also very explicitly talking about acknowledging the existence of other people in a job environment where someone willingly applied for and accepted a job that they know the function is to interact with the public. Not expecting people to do the whole song and dance shit that people were and are forced into. I just very genuinely do not understand why there is so much push back as if it’s completely unacceptable to expect someone to just say hello to someone.
So yeah, they are over worked and underpaid, but that’s been the case for literal decades and it’s strange to me that people seem to just jump to that as the reason and seem to forget that capitalism didn’t spontaneously develop in 2020 and that people have been exploited for decades. I began working just a couple years before the 2008 recession. When I was 27 I was making so little that I was splitting a 2 bedroom apartment with 5 people. Until I quit my most recent job I was close to qualifying as “very low income” according to the city’s standards and I could not afford even a studio apartment. I grew up with my electricity shut off with all the groceries stored in a camping cooler so that child protective services wouldn’t take me away from my mom. I am autistic and have always dealt with social anxiety and shyness. Despite that, I have worked very many customer service jobs beginning at 15 years old and I went into it knowing that I would need to interact with other people. That’s the entire purpose of being a cashier. So why take a job where you have to interact with people if you absolutely hate it to the point where you don’t even want to interact with other people at all?
Imo, interacting with people can also be a way to make your job less miserable. Shitty, asshole customers will ALWAYS exist and they will treat you like shit regardless of how you act towards them. But sometimes interactions with strangers can be really fun. I have had many customers that I would look forward to seeing, or I would crack jokes with, or complain about the state of the world, or they would just be super kind. They might turn my day around or at the very least make time go by faster. It’s like you’re possibly denying yourself potential moments that might make the work feel a little less excrutiating. Sometimes those few cool people would be the only thing getting me through my day because my boss fucking sucked ass and it was so monotonous.
I think what really gets me on this, too, is that people will simultaneously say “people are terminally online and need to touch grass”, but when it’s pointed out that it’s worrying that people can’t even communicate in the most minimal ways, then it’s “oh but they shouldn’t be expected to interact with people”. So which is it? I don’t think that people should be disciplined for not having sunshine shoot out their asses. I do think that it’s fine to only put in the effort you think is commensurate with your wage. Quiet quitting and time theft are dope. I guess more than anything it’s just troubling to me that people seem to not think it’s important to practice very basic communication skills with strangers and get downright defensive if it’s suggested.
Perhaps I really just don’t understand the significance of COVID lockdowns and I wish I could hear some anecdotal experience from someone who feels like it did really change how they communicate. Perhaps it’s an overcorrection as everyone can hop on social media and see that capitalism is garbage and how it’s decaying every day. I admit that there is probably some old-man-shaking-fist-at-the-youngters “back in my day” shit going on but I do really try not to fall into that. Idk, I’m not trying to shit on people and say that they are bad for lacking social skills, but that it does seem much worse and that maybe it should be something folks should work on
Covid could be part of it. Maybe it’s different than burnout. I have only heard about this on tiktok, that’s just how it seems to me.
Yeah, could be a variety of things. And I mean, what I’m talking about is something ive only seen a handful of times but when I have it was just VERY noticeable to me. All that said we all have our stereotypes. Gen Xers were apathetic and cynical, millenials were just cringe… We all have our things lol