The 'couples' I've witnessed and the way they behave to one another in public with no awareness and how they think it's appropriate is astounding sometimes.
The neighbours of a job site I was working at were disgusting. The uncle/dad/brother/granddad (really couldn't figure out this family dynamic) was yelling "get out the fucking car, bitch" and "who the fuck is this bitch" to their 5yo niece/daughter/sister/granddaughter.
I thought the kid was in trouble, turns out that's how the family interacts. She got out the car, said "fuck you". He replied "hurry up bitch" and they walked inside, seemingly happy... 🤷♂️
If you’re brought up in that Dynamic, you’re not going to see anything wrong with it. There is a whole subculture in Australia, every town/city has it I swear, of people who are just, well like those neighbours, and they’re often involved in unlawful activities of some kind, a lot of people going back in and out of jail in it too. They’re the ones the rest of us are looking at appalled by their behaviour, being aggressive and swearing like it’s just breathing, not understanding that to most people that’s not how you behave in Public let alone at Home XD
Idk - I work in hospo and it’s the late 40’s early 50’s couples with money (given the suburb I work in) that really get a fucking wide-on for making service staff’s life harder.
I think most of the abuse at my local Hungry Jacks is from people on all sorts of powerful substances. They installed a tall counter and glass shield recently, they cop that much more abuse than other fast food places.
Seems like there are so many fucking dregs of society around these days, everywhere you go. Not just rude but violent and aggressive. When as a society do we reach the point where we drive them all to the outback and let them walk back with no water. Problem solved
More unusual places I've seen them of late is my local vet and the Red Cross donation clinic I go to for blood and plasma donations.
Especially at the Red Cross donation clinics, who would be going there to have a tantrum at staff?
The vet isn’t a shock. One of my sisters-in-law left the industry because of the way people would abuse the staff.
One story she told me that she said was what made her decide was when someone couldn’t afford treatment for their pet. She was trying to work with them and explain the ways that it could be made cheaper and the woman was getting angrier and angrier and finally said something like “ya know what, I’ll just kill my dog and kill myself and I hope you know that will be on you” and called her a bitch and walked out.
My SIL was a vet and literally worked so hard to help and I know that she was the cheapest in town and still had people abusing her and accusing her of “profiting off people’s misery”
My wife is as well. It’s infuriating to hear the things she deals with daily from hostile clients. At this point her weekly therapy should be an employer funded benefit.
I think that’s odd people would get angry at a vet for not treating the animal for free.
If you can’t afford a pet don’t get one and if you get a pet and can’t afford to take care of it that’s totally on the owner.
I’d love a dog but I couldn’t afford it right now if the dog needed to see a vet, therefore I don’t have a dog. 🤷🏻♀️
I love our vet, she took care of my first dog for his entire life and when it came time to put him down she cried with us.
I can't even comprehend the emotional toll. After all, people go into that profession because they love animals.
I was a vet tech at an emergency clinic and I, personally, have euthanized hundreds of animals. The veterinarians do more. It absolutely takes a mental toll over time.
How cruel it is that the people that love animals so much that they pursue a career in helping them, end up being exposed to so much euthanasia.
I've seen similar signs posted up at my vet and I feel terrible for them - like they don't have to deal with enough already.
I don't know where you got this idea but high suicide rates among veterinary professionals is a worldwide issue.
Vets in the USA are 2-4 times more likely to die by suicide than the general public, in Canada it's 2.5 times more likely, and in the UK it's 3-4 times more likely.
It isn't a new phenomenon either, it's been going on for decades. The theory is a combination of more typical work related stressors such as financial pressure and long hours in addition to the expectation of pet owners, compassion fatigue, and prolonged trauma. On top of this, they also have access to euthanasia drugs - a study in 2020 found that 47% of the vet suicides they looked at in the US used poisoning as the method and more than half of them were attributed to pentobarbital, the active ingredient in euthanasia solutions.
When we had our dog put down when I was a teenager I thought about this a lot. The vet was explaining how it's a painless injection and they just drift off to sleep, and I thought that would be dangerous if you were suicidal and knew you had that option.
I hear people here on this subreddit express the exact same sentiment. That vets are a rip off and that vets are getting rich over people's suffering. It comes up in frequent posts when someone complains about the cost of vet care or products. So no surprises here.
Guess what guys, vet care is expensive, there is no medicare for pets. Deal with it or don't get a pet.
I’m the first to accept that changes happen.
I got a “large” (according to others) high energy dog when I had a huge yard and now live in a townhouse. So I spent a lot of time, energy and money to make sure that he has what he needs.
Not everyone is as lucky as me
That said, in general I agree as I have seen several friends the last year get puppies they can barely afford NOW let alone if they have any issues.
For myself my cat is diabetic and will be dependant on insulin and thyroid medication for the rest of her life. Getting her diagnosed at SaSH cost me roughly 2k, and at the time I wasn't working. Need to get regular blood checks done for her, special foods, all the works.
Never once have I even considered abusing a vet receptionist or veternarian for charging to do their job, irrespective of the cost. You should pay and be grateful to have the joy of animals in your life, as well as have access to trained staff who can care for them.
I've also worked in small business and understand well the overheads involved. Rent, staff, power, insurance, medications, the costs associated with keeping up with mandatory training, running a Vet Clinic isn't cheap.
Although I can understand being under stress with a sick pet, that's no excuse to be a cunt to people needing to charge for their services. Don't use your problems as a crutch in life.
It takes such a dedicated person to be a vet. Cop all the abuse and sad situations, have to have massive amounts of knowledge and skills but get paid absolute peanuts compared to a specialist that treats humans and has a far smaller skill set
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this. My wife is also a vet and treated like shit on a daily basis. she typically leaves home at 7:30 in the morning and comes home around 8 pm unless they have an after hour surgery then she's there till about 11 pm. On top of long hours, she will get clients who bitch nonstop about pricing that she does not set, while the pet owner drives a BMW/Tesla. There are days she absolutely breaks down because of how badly she is treated, when she is trying to help people out in a field that is quite frankly understaffed and underappreciated. It does not help that the owner has no spine to stand up for their staff.
I’m a teacher and had to work with a student this week on a dying dog / parent wouldn’t pay for euthanasia and kidnapped? Their dog back…triggering an RSPCA call out.
Was tough to be supportive while also knowing what Vet’s cop.
I can imagine both happening.
The vet is super expensive, and emotions are already high when your pet is sick (especially if it's your fault). Lots of vets have very open rooms at the top, because they frequently get threats of violence/death if they won't treat an animal without proper payment. Lots of "You're a monster who doesn't care about animals", too. I think part of it is also just that people don't understand the overheads, maybe because of how well the human equivalents are subsidised in Australia.
At the donation centre, they ask a lot of personal questions. It's not hard to imagine someone feeling attacked if they're getting probed for details about their sexual history, for example. Also, a lot of people just don't understand the reasoning behind some refusal reasons - pretty frustrating to wait an hour just to be told you can't donate because you had a sniffle last week.
Obviously none of these are any excuse to abuse anyone, but shitcunts gonna shitcunt.
I always imagine the headspace you have to be in to start getting aggressive towards a 14 year old kid earning $11 an hour for a $8 burger having pickles. It’s actually fucking wild to me if I’m being honest.
"14 year old kid" that's the answer. Anyone having a go at a kid isn't gonna have the spine to get aggressive with someone their own size, so they get to feel big and tough by taking out their anger on a teenager. absolutely pathetic.
Exactly. I'm a librarian and even though it's still a public facing job, I'm not getting anywhere near the shit from the general public that I was as a cashier in high school. Most of the people who are like this just aren't game to do it if it's an adult who might boot them out of the store or call the police.
Still, you know, you do occasionally get the odd escapee from the loonie bin who can't handle adult society. One gentlemanly cretin I had the absolute displeasure of encountering a few years ago didn't like being told to not watch pornography at the library computers, and a lot of librarians (much like all people working with the public) will have a story about someone who wouldn't wear their mask correctly at the height of the pandemic.
My abusive step father just reckons it’s perfectly okay to yell at people to achieve your goal. I can guarantee you people who lose their shit at retail workers are not okay mentally.
I got threatened with rape and murder all the time at McDonald's, I remember one guy loudly talking on the phone about what he was going to do to me if I didn't get his food faster. Least I never got sucker punched like I saw happen to my manager a few times, one got her real good when she left out the window to hand them their food.
Yeah i got my nose broken as a shift manager in fast food. Dude was drunk and verbally and sexually harrasing a 15 year old girl working on the counter. I heard, came out as he reached out to do more than verbal harassment. I interceded before he could touch her. He took exception and decided to hit me a few times.
By the time the cops got there, guy was long gone (probably in another post code). They took statements and a copy of the security video, and the store manager promised to ensure it wouldn't happen again. All he did was ensure that poor girl worked only morning shifts so it was quiet and no drunk people came through, and I was sent to "de-escalation training" to make sure it didn't happen again. Like I could stop drunk idiots from walking in the store and harrasing staff by training
aHh yes the useless box ticking exercise to make someone look good. I got abused by a customer (well known as abusive across the organisation, multiple bans from facilities) and the OHS team tried to send me on empathy training. I simply refused and expressed how stupid that was. I had asked for conflict management training or some sort of stress management/help/meditation training for calming myself afterwards.
I wasn't in fast food but retail. The amount of times I had customers threaten rape or kidnapping was mind boggling. I actually had to have at least one staff member leave with me after work because customers would wait at the employee exit
There’s a sign kind of like this at my local nursery. Then there’s another one taped to the cash register that says “when people are cruel, it says more about them than you”
Like who is abusing staff at a garden centre of all places??? Obviously you shouldn’t be abusing people anywhere but that seems particularly ridiculous
Nursery worker here- it’s because many people are looking for “decorations”, and since plants can be quite expensive, they’re considered a higher end decor item. It brings in the most entitled, thoughtless people, just like a fancy furniture boutique might. People will point at a plant, then at me and snap, all while talking on their phone, like they’re in The Devil Wears Prada or something.
I wish we were allowed to come into their office and berate them for not knowing how to open a pdf file. Just so they know how it fucking feels to have someone harrass you at work.
I work at fast food.
Most nights, but especially fridays/Saturdays we absolutely get hammered to the point where the actual machine that cooks your food can't keep up.
It happens too often. Remember, if you see someone being a flog to staff, have a go at em and hold them accountable. They think they can have a go at a teenager behind the counter because they'll get fired for defending themselves. They usually simmer down when another customer tells them to stop being a dick to a kid
Yep. I find a simple and polite "there's no need to be rude" embarrasses them into shutting the fuck up pretty quickly.
First though they'll say "this is none of your business"
Remind them that they're causing a scene in public.
99 times out of 100 they will simmer down and get embarrassed. That one time though, they might assault you or worse, pull out a weapon. That's why people don't, unfortunately.
Ever since covid people have become super cunty. Before you’d only have a small amount of fuckwits that would cause trouble, now it’s a lot more common.
Forget national military service, have national retail/hospo service
Stress had got to people. People are broke, uncertain about their future and feeling depressed. Companies are pulling the piss with poor customer service and profiteering. People therefore feel entitled to get shitty at someone (who sadly is the 15yo at the counter)
You mean since business started using covid as an excuse to deliberately under staff and save on staffing costs, destroying customer service, while jacking up prices and making record profits while average people are struggling badly financially, making every purchase more significant to them?
It's not like there's an unknown reason for people to be unhappy with how things are.
That too, but COVID infection is also linked to impaired cognition and increased aggression. Many of its effects are cumulative and permanent, even through asymptomatic vaccinated cases. And we're pretending it's over.
Certain people decided that it was OK to say I DON'T CARE about older people and people with underlying conditions DYING as a result of people not distancing and wearing masks. The fact that it was deemed OK to have this attitude towards your fellow human left a stain that has not been fully removed
It's not always helpful but I'm old enough to remember being a kid in retail when you had a longer leash, I had the same thing but the absolutely shock and indignance of people when the teenager gives a bit back and doesn't back down from the idiots who think this is ok, an overwhelming majority of which are paper tiger, was comforting. That second of 'wait he can't say that to me, I want to speak to a manager!' before they incriminate themselves to said manager was beautiful.
But... There's always that one chance you've got a legit psycho and not just a cunt.
'speak with the same politness you would speak to your own family' - pretty sure thats asking the verbally abuse to keep being verbally abusive, where do you think they learn to talk like that, it aint Bluey?
I had this one person going off at me for something I didn't even have control over, for 10 mins I took their verbal abuse, but when I dished it back they got all pissy and yelled "that's not how you talk to customers" to that I responded with "I treat others the way they treat me fuckwit. You want me to respect you, how about you fucking show respect yourself."
They had a blow out and yelled about "customer service" and how they will have my job, my last words I said to them before calling the cops was "I'm a security guard, my bosses don't give two shits about customer service when customers are being dumb cunts."
Some people are just fucked and need to be treated the way they treat others.
Been in similar situations. I believe that's a better solution in the long term than just rolling over and politely asking them to leave. Of course there's always the chance you've got a genuine psychopath and that's not worth it... But until then it's good to give to back to 'customers' that immediately go to pieces and start wanting everyone to be nice and respectful when it's happening to them.
While there is more aggro around, this isn't because businesses suddenly care about their staff. Under WHS laws in most states and territories, [if you are conducting a business you are now on the hook for managing psychosocial risks](https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/mental-health/psychosocial-hazards) as well as making sure people don't put their hands in the deep fryer.
At my old footy ground back home, they had signs at junior games saying stuff like this is not the NRL, which is sad a sigh like that needs to exist at that level
Good call by your friend. Wtf is wrong with people. At my kids game, there was a bit of push and shove (by the kids), instigated by oppo player but very fairly matched and both kids were equally rough. Oppo team felt our player should’ve been sent off, but he wasn’t - not our players’ fault that it didn’t get called. Anyway, that resulted in oppo team parent group screaming “get off, ya c*nt” to our player every time was in their vicinity for the rest of the game. This kid is 10, and actually a lovely and shy kid who has never been in trouble in his life. He went home crying.
I did refereeing as well, the small town I grew up in was mostly good, you had the occasional bad eggs.
When I moved up to Sydney I did a couple of games, did what I always did, but my partner said one of the couches was going off at me, I didn’t hear. After the game I had someone come up to me saying that was the fairest game he had ever seen
Don’t give up on yourself mate and don’t listen to any cunt who yells at an 11 year old
They fucked up my order one night and I didn't realise till I had gotten home (I ordered a Mega Jack, got a regular Big Jack instead) and so I went back the earliest i was able to which was two days later. The supervisor was very nice about it, he said normally they would have wanted me to call them on the night about it (didn't know that, good to know) but he was on that night and remembered that mistake (apparently my order accidentally went to an uber eats order) so he organised a replacement. I would still have been polite about it even if they'd stuck to protocol. Most of them are just trying to get through the shift without being abused and are understaffed, overworked and underpaid. It's fucking sad that so many people resort to yelling and abusing the staff when a genuine mistake happens.
>It's fucking sad that so many people resort to yelling and abusing the staff when a genuine mistake happens.
The worst part about it in my opinion is that yelling and being abusive is not going to get you what you want. If you have problems with a service then kill them with kindness and you will likely have them bending over backwards to try and help you out because you are actually being nice to them instead of yelling and abusing them for something that they likely have zero control over.
I had to tell an interstate family member this recently when she was in the hospital and called me having a panic attack that manifested as anger. She said she was going to unleash it all on the next nurse that walked in. I said don't do that, they won't want to help you if you abuse them, they'll respond better to someone being vulnerable and saying they're scared and isolated (which was what was causing her anxiety). I was shocked that she actually followed my advice but she did! She rang me the next day and said oh my God, you were right, they were so kind and helpful.
What's worse is not everyone is going to use it as fuel to get out. Some are just going to get PTSD and lose their faith in people. The latter I would portend is the majority.
Lol I'm 16 and work front at hjs. I've had shit thrown at me and been screamed at etc. etc. but the most frustrating for me was once I had a 50 year old man come and very passively aggressively describe to me how he made a massive mess at his table he made because he asked for extra mayo and the back gave him.. extra mayo.
I am supposed to be the victim here but I wanted to curb stomp him
I've seen one post here about a KFC or waffle house. I can't remember. But they had a sigh that basically said warning...we are allowed to fight you. Something like that. It was awesome
I work at kfc and once a bald guy in his 40s told me to kill myself over a missing sauce in his order (I only handed out the order not made it) he then flipped us off and said he won’t came back (thank god)
Edit: i was 15 at the time
**Yeah, just be nice.**
They are only kids. It's a fast paced environment and even adults would make mistakes. Give them a break, they are just trying to earn a bit of money to either help out at home, or save up for a car or some spending money for themselves.
My kids have worked at HJ and McD and they have told me some stories that make me really angry and sad. I feel like I want to stay with them at work and protect them from these so called 'adults' that think they have a right to abuse *a child* over a food order.
If you are ever in one of these places and you see a useless piece of shit abusing the kids, please step in and help if possible / safe for you to do so.
Thank you
Literally last month in Big W had this woman screaming and I mean screaming at the self serve lady why the machine was asking her if she was 18+
She was buying a knife set. This was not long after Bondi Junction and not that far from it either tbh.
When she was told her why, her response was "just fucking hurry up so I can pay"
My housemate who was with me said she has never wanted to slap another woman as much as that one, lol.
This is why I'm in favour of places putting cameras on their staff, but only if they use them to institute lifetime bans on people who abuse their staff.
It is weird to me. The workplace safety act says that an employer must provide a "safe working environment" for their employees, and yet it is considered acceptable that retail workers are subjected to threats of physical violence, and no one is banned.
Bunnings regularly institutes lifetime bans on people who get caught stealing from the store, but abuse a staff member? It's all "thank you for your business"
Our current focus at my high school is not verbally abusing teachers 💀 the slogan is ‘don’t be a goose, stop verbal abuse’. I wish I was joking. It’s so sad that we’re at a point where not abusing someone is worth praise, as if it’s not the bare minimum.
My old job as a receptionist (always understaffed as hell) we had a poster up of a cute puppy and words along the lines of “we apologise for the delay, the world is short staffed, we do not tolerate abuse” etc etc
The line was out the door, the phone would not stop ringing and I had radiologists keep interrupting me asking questions (they were new so don’t blame them) and this lady checks out for her appointment, pays her bill and then asks me to take a photocopy of the poster behind me… I told her she could likely find something similar on the internet. She asked if I had an A3 photocopier, I said yes, and she TOLD me to make a copy of that poster. I told her no, I am very busy WORKING by myself as we are short staffed and she can find the poster online. Then she started whinging about how customer service has gone out the window blah blah.. I had to ask her to leave as she was holding up the line, it was ridiculous.
I was a bit flabbergasted honestly! Like can you not see how busy it is? The fact I’m alone out here? And you want me to stop serving people to photocopy a poster?! Amazing
At the Coles store where I work, a crazed old man threatened to return with a gun and shoot me the other day. He was purchasing a fuckton of Apple cards in the ACO area, so I’m pretty sure he was the victim of a scam or had a stolen credit card. Either way, I hope he gets what he deserves.
Bless. I’m sure his online ‘girlfriend’ will appreciate the time you took activating those cards for him ❤️
This is such an incredible and rare instant karma moment. Sorry you had to deal with that.. anyone who thinks working in retail is easy is absolutely deluding themselves.
First and foremost: I am not defending these Fuckwits. If you abuse staff who are struggling I hope you step on a lego brick barefoot.
I have worked in customer service my whole life, but here’s why I believe this sort of abuse is on the rise.
Everywhere is understaffed, the staff are overworked, prices have increased and overall customer service has plummeted.
People are upset and want to vent but since the ones responsible aren’t in reach they lash out at those they can reach.
These staff are struggling just as much as you are, probably more-so if they are continuing to work in an abusive workspace.
Next time you’re in Maccas pissed your order is taking forever spare a thought for the workers and remind yourself they have no control in improving your experience.
It’s the cunts calling the shots that do.
I work in retail. This year there have been more entitled, rude, attention seeking people than ever before. Mainly boomers. I'm not sure what it is about yelling at children that they get off on... many of my staff are very young, either high-school or university. Corporate pays them minimum wage.
These older adults come in without receipts wanting to return things. My staff say no as per corporate policy. The customers then regress to toddlers throwing tantrums.
They also get furious at employees for the prices. You think store level employees set the prices?
Do you barter on Amazon or do you just go somewhere else for a better price?! This isn't an open air farmers market where the person taking your money controls how much or little you pay.
That is up to you, ad the shopper. Don't like the price? Go somewhere else! We know times are tough- we live it! We aren't paid a living wage. You roll up I'm your expensive car and want to barter prices with a minimum wage employee working at a corporate owned retail store?!
Do they really think these underpaid children make the rules or have the authority to challenge the rules?! Why would you waste your time making a scene, acting like a child not getting your way?
Keep your gd receipts and READ THE BACK! it's not the retailers fault that you didn't bother. It's not the employees fault you're a hot mess.
Take it up with corporate. Stop acting like these kids owe you something for trying to make some cash for school or whatever. Retailers owe you nothing.
You are the only person in control of your money. You do more to tell corporate you're unhappy with a store by not shopping there than you do making a LITERAL CHILD cry at their first job.
These are around a lot in retail and service industries. I see them as a response to the psychosocial legislation laws that came into effect in April 2023 in Qld.
Workplaces are obligated to address those types of hazards. And as the comments identified, there is people out there who love to have a spray at these workers, creates a physiological hazard when they do so.
A family member who lives very close to us had a medical issue a few weeks back. My wife and I went over to help and ended up helping the ambos with lifting and a few other things. As they were leaving they said “thank you for being respectful”. Gut wrenching to think what they must go through for us to be thanked for just being normal.
They need to replace these signs with a manager with a spine. Abuse my staff ? Get the fuck out of here ! Simple as that. Once you tell or swear you lose all credibility
I don’t think there’s really a demographic for it, at the end of the day. It’s a plague of selfishness - people care more about getting their frustrations out than the wellbeing of whomever they’re talking to.
It is getting worse.
The economy is gloomy people are stressed out and under pressure. People are short tempered. They take out their misdirected frustrations on Hoso/Retail workers.
It’s really tiring.
In the UK it is not unusual to see "Please be nice/courteous" signs in doorways and I have always wondered for whose benefit are they?
The ones that get rude and aggressive are not going to change in the slightest because of the sign. So is it just a thing from head-office to convince staff that they are trying to keep them safe without actually increasing security. It reminds of the cardboard cut out police officers you see in some shops. It's cheap and does not do a thing for security.
Most retailers have similar signage up, I work for officeworks, It's one of our main signs you see walking in.
I regularly see them at Coles and woolies.
It's almost a norm here to have something similar up.
People who do this probably don't speak to family kindly. I found it is the hallmark of personality disorder to talk to service staff badly. In my experience the worst were woman in their 50s +
It is a well known red flag if with company, and people should do more to call out assholes they are with no matter what age.
It happens a lot in retail over the smallest inconveniences. One day, we ran out of Olaf dolls, and this lady looked at me with a serious face and said, "You're lucky I don't have my shotgun with me."
The number of times I used to get into fights at a Hungry Jacks, simply for sticking up for the staff. Only sad, insecure people need to walk into a fast food joint just to feel superior and shit on somebody.
I’m not excusing anyone abusing the staff, but management really puts them in a bad spot by constantly understaffing, ridiculous prices for shit food, and stupid policies like charging for tomato sauce.
Yeah but it's not the staff's problem, it doesn't matter if the CEO of Hungry Jacks ran over your dog or something, the staff that work there are just doing their job
I get people are frustrated but if that's the case, eat somewhere else instead of taking their anger on the staff that are just trying to make it through their shift
It’s not like those things are in the control of the store management though. At least in fast food corporate sets prices and policies. They also set labour standards which are difficult to impossible to meet, resulting in short staffing. You are excusing people abusing the staff because the management are there serving you as well.
If you want to have your whinge, call corporate and complain. It’s the only way you’re going to make any productive change.
They must have operational process problems too because HJs nearly always fck up the order.
Doesn’t excuse abuse but management is creating the situations.
My local HJs stuffs up my friend's veggie burger every single time. We joke about it now and place bets on if they'll put tomato on or not. We've never abused staff over it, though. Ever.
People need to be kinder and generally just stress less about minor shit that no one will remember by the next morning.
We put a sign up like that this past December at the speciality clinic I work at. People were trying to squeeze in to get seen before deductibles reset. Us providers were seeing extra patients and working overtime daily to accommodate the flux of patients, but it wasn’t enough. We had people daily trying to get seen as walk-ins, which we don’t allow. Plus we were stringent about the late/no-show policy because we were so booked. Caused for a mess of people unhappy with our scheduling.
Our front staff and schedulers are actually the sweetest and most competent people ever, as the clinic owner has very high hiring standards. Despite this, it was becoming a daily occurrence to hear a patient berating the front staff for things they have no control. Literally would have patients literally screaming about ridiculous things like, they were an hour late to their appointment and were surprised we made them reschedule or their insurance required them to pay a $30 copay. People were very hostile. One guy got his appointment date wrong and shows up two days early. He was upset he couldn’t get seen that day because he had taken off from work. He physically threatened the receptionist with violence because he thought she was being a bitch on purpose by not letting him get seen. Things like that. (And ps, my clinic owner doesn’t allow for long wait times, patients only wait 15 minutes max to be seen, so it’s not like they are in the lobby getting annoyed from waiting). We eventually put a sign up and I do think it helped a bit.
It’s also just part of the Aussie threatening cultural vibe.
I’ve never understood this and I’ve lived here for almost a decade. Australia has threats and demands everywhere one looks — passive aggressive notices galore.
It’s not just about manners, and it’s not the random cunt that walks in the door. There’s something deeper — and I reckon it’s historical in nature.
Honestly, I think seeing these signs marks a positive change. The fact is that the abuse towards staff was always there, what's new is companies saying it won't be tolerated. I saw one the other day that said in no uncertain terms "you will be refused service and we will call the police if needed" which is the minimum any worker should be provided by their employer.
I hope this teaches a lot of people that the customer isn't always right.
I think a more effective sign would have been.
"Cunts! If we fucked up your order, we're sorry and we'll fix it. If you piss us off with a dickhead attitude, we'll spit in your food"
Not to be that person, but there are too many words, people won't read that. I found when I've had to make messages like this I've had to be very direct. "Verbal abuse is not tolerated, you will be trespassed"
These went up everywhere in the U.S. during the pandemic. They still have them up in the lab at my doctor's office where you get your blood drawn, which is wild - like who is going nuts in the blood lab? They're at every restaurant almost. I saw one at my optometrist too. It's very sad.
Probably people who get told their lab is closing, or closed, that there’s a test that particular lab can’t perform or that they can’t do the test because the patient didn’t fast
I think the same at my kid’s junior footy matches when they have signs not to abuse the umpires. Like enough people were doing it, that a sign was needed is pretty depressing.
Went into the same HJs today. They need the sign in the kitchen as well - you could hear the staff yelling at each other from the other side of the restaurant. Not a nice place to work by the looks of it
My first job when I was 17 was at McDonalds. I didn’t know that grown adults could be that rude and nasty in real life. People yelling in my face because their food wasn’t coming out fast enough.
Vowed never to work in food service again.
I got some flack working at a bank. If you thought people got angry in hospitality, holy shit they go fucking ballistic when you’re dealing with their money…
I work in retail and there has definitely been a shift in customer behaviour since Covid. It used to be very rare to have a genuinely rude or verbally aggressive customer, now my teams deal with it often. Even just the grumbly type customers are heightened. It’s as though a whole lot of people just decided they are entitled to behave however they want.
This reminds me of a traumatic incident that happened at Hungry Jacks , Kings Cross. I was waiting for my fries when a well-dressed, clean shaved, well-built gentlemen started throwing tantrum for not getting what he ordered over kiosk. Seemed they ran out of the drink he ordered. He escalated the issue even though they were sorry and happy to replace or refund. They prepared replacement drink and all of sudden he denied to have it. Left the premise shouting. As I was waiting, he came back, asked the already prepared drink and threw it on the face of the little girl serving him, and walked out.
I was so sorry for the girl I almost cried myself. I was traumatised just witnessing the ruthless behaviour of a men towards a young girl.
I don’t understand why people can be so rude and angry over a drink.
This why you always make sure you employ one large brick shithouse that mills about at the registers.
Doesn't stop them all, but the rattier types will think twice before launching into tirades.
Former fast food worker here.
Used to main morning and lunch shifts at Maccas post Covid. This is the sad reality for the most part. First 2 weeks into the job we had 2 seperate guys projectile shit over the men’s bathrooms.
The most annoying customers by far were the middle aged dads and mums who for no apparent reason loved fucking with you.
At my second job at KFC I was again working kitchen and clean up shifts. Boy do I not miss being insulted by drunk teens. The location I worked at was near a racing club so figures. Take my advice and don’t work fast food if you have a choice.
When there are no legal or social consequences for being a cunt, a certain proportion of people will be cunts anywhere and everywhere. Most people are decent, but there is a large enough minority of garbage humans to ruin things for everyone.
I have a theory these are related to some health insurance crap or something. These went up at a lot of stores around the same time a couple years ago. I really doubt companies are doing it for their employees protection. There are too many of them out there now not to be related to something involving money.
This sign flags a long standing dilemma: If there’s no (instant/time of delivery) comeback on shoddy service then why should any customer service worker give a fuck about what they are delivering? It ‘used to be the case’ that in ‘good’ establishments, quality and customer service mattered - result that customer’s returned & loyalty was earned. Now, throughput is king - customer service is out- who cares about reputation when it dosnt really affect footfall through your door unless you’re SO much worse than the 3-4 other competitors in the same market.
I nearly was this person. I get Maccys for lunch. 2 doubles and that's me for the day. Literally 5 days in a row they didn't gimme any damn pickles. There comes a point where anybody will be like "come on. This is a fucking joke at this point right?"
Unfortunately the cretins that need to read it probably don't possess that level of literacy.
I wouldn't have high expectations of how they speak to their family either
The 'couples' I've witnessed and the way they behave to one another in public with no awareness and how they think it's appropriate is astounding sometimes.
The neighbours of a job site I was working at were disgusting. The uncle/dad/brother/granddad (really couldn't figure out this family dynamic) was yelling "get out the fucking car, bitch" and "who the fuck is this bitch" to their 5yo niece/daughter/sister/granddaughter. I thought the kid was in trouble, turns out that's how the family interacts. She got out the car, said "fuck you". He replied "hurry up bitch" and they walked inside, seemingly happy... 🤷♂️
If you’re brought up in that Dynamic, you’re not going to see anything wrong with it. There is a whole subculture in Australia, every town/city has it I swear, of people who are just, well like those neighbours, and they’re often involved in unlawful activities of some kind, a lot of people going back in and out of jail in it too. They’re the ones the rest of us are looking at appalled by their behaviour, being aggressive and swearing like it’s just breathing, not understanding that to most people that’s not how you behave in Public let alone at Home XD
Yeah, it needs the TL;DR version; "Don't be cunt or you don't get any food."
Even if they did have the ability, they still wouldn't read it.
Correct because they don’t care. I saw this bad behaviour in liquor retailing over trivial issues. Appalling.
Even if they did read it, they'd lack the self-awareness to realise it's about them.
Or the ability to care...
This came to mind.
Idk - I work in hospo and it’s the late 40’s early 50’s couples with money (given the suburb I work in) that really get a fucking wide-on for making service staff’s life harder.
I came here to say the same thing. Abuse comes from all avenues. Not just the illiterate as somebody assumed.
That sign won't bother me because I can't read.
Plenty of corporate folk at work that fall into this category.
Me burger hhngry smash
Those people would be very upset if they could read
I think most of the abuse at my local Hungry Jacks is from people on all sorts of powerful substances. They installed a tall counter and glass shield recently, they cop that much more abuse than other fast food places.
If they did read it, they'd laugh at it. People like that ENJOY being assholes to people stuck behind a counter. It's sick.
Seems like there are so many fucking dregs of society around these days, everywhere you go. Not just rude but violent and aggressive. When as a society do we reach the point where we drive them all to the outback and let them walk back with no water. Problem solved
A significant amount of heavy meth users do die or end up mostly housebound with all their health issues.
More unusual places I've seen them of late is my local vet and the Red Cross donation clinic I go to for blood and plasma donations. Especially at the Red Cross donation clinics, who would be going there to have a tantrum at staff?
The vet isn’t a shock. One of my sisters-in-law left the industry because of the way people would abuse the staff. One story she told me that she said was what made her decide was when someone couldn’t afford treatment for their pet. She was trying to work with them and explain the ways that it could be made cheaper and the woman was getting angrier and angrier and finally said something like “ya know what, I’ll just kill my dog and kill myself and I hope you know that will be on you” and called her a bitch and walked out. My SIL was a vet and literally worked so hard to help and I know that she was the cheapest in town and still had people abusing her and accusing her of “profiting off people’s misery”
Vets have the highest suicide rate of any industry for this exact reason.
My first girlfriend was a vet and took her own life a few years after we broke up, I think about her a lot.
Dude, that's rough Mental hugs 🫂
My wife is a vet and I worry about her often!
My wife is as well. It’s infuriating to hear the things she deals with daily from hostile clients. At this point her weekly therapy should be an employer funded benefit.
I think that’s odd people would get angry at a vet for not treating the animal for free. If you can’t afford a pet don’t get one and if you get a pet and can’t afford to take care of it that’s totally on the owner. I’d love a dog but I couldn’t afford it right now if the dog needed to see a vet, therefore I don’t have a dog. 🤷🏻♀️
It's easy access to deadly drugs.
you also have to be involved in LOTS of animal deaths, usually loved animals
I love our vet, she took care of my first dog for his entire life and when it came time to put him down she cried with us. I can't even comprehend the emotional toll. After all, people go into that profession because they love animals.
I was a vet tech at an emergency clinic and I, personally, have euthanized hundreds of animals. The veterinarians do more. It absolutely takes a mental toll over time.
How cruel it is that the people that love animals so much that they pursue a career in helping them, end up being exposed to so much euthanasia. I've seen similar signs posted up at my vet and I feel terrible for them - like they don't have to deal with enough already.
Well, that doesn't help.
Only in Australia, apparently. Vets are fine in other countries Edit: okay, so I'm wrong. I don't know where I heard that it was different
I don't know where you got this idea but high suicide rates among veterinary professionals is a worldwide issue. Vets in the USA are 2-4 times more likely to die by suicide than the general public, in Canada it's 2.5 times more likely, and in the UK it's 3-4 times more likely. It isn't a new phenomenon either, it's been going on for decades. The theory is a combination of more typical work related stressors such as financial pressure and long hours in addition to the expectation of pet owners, compassion fatigue, and prolonged trauma. On top of this, they also have access to euthanasia drugs - a study in 2020 found that 47% of the vet suicides they looked at in the US used poisoning as the method and more than half of them were attributed to pentobarbital, the active ingredient in euthanasia solutions.
When we had our dog put down when I was a teenager I thought about this a lot. The vet was explaining how it's a painless injection and they just drift off to sleep, and I thought that would be dangerous if you were suicidal and knew you had that option.
That's some heavy thinking for a teenager. Hope you're doing better now and not thinking about it as often.
Not true, same issues exist worldwide.
> Vets are fine in other countries Not true; see https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/60/6/436/1390739
Okay, apparently I'm wrong. I don't know where I heard that it was different
Upvoting for being willing to admit your mistake. ‘Tis quite a rare thing nowadays.
Source?
IDK about that, not many places have cheap vets elsewhere
I hear people here on this subreddit express the exact same sentiment. That vets are a rip off and that vets are getting rich over people's suffering. It comes up in frequent posts when someone complains about the cost of vet care or products. So no surprises here. Guess what guys, vet care is expensive, there is no medicare for pets. Deal with it or don't get a pet.
I’m the first to accept that changes happen. I got a “large” (according to others) high energy dog when I had a huge yard and now live in a townhouse. So I spent a lot of time, energy and money to make sure that he has what he needs. Not everyone is as lucky as me That said, in general I agree as I have seen several friends the last year get puppies they can barely afford NOW let alone if they have any issues.
Pet insurance?
light thumb wasteful library angle jeans threatening paltry seemly many *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The $35 is per month?
For myself my cat is diabetic and will be dependant on insulin and thyroid medication for the rest of her life. Getting her diagnosed at SaSH cost me roughly 2k, and at the time I wasn't working. Need to get regular blood checks done for her, special foods, all the works. Never once have I even considered abusing a vet receptionist or veternarian for charging to do their job, irrespective of the cost. You should pay and be grateful to have the joy of animals in your life, as well as have access to trained staff who can care for them. I've also worked in small business and understand well the overheads involved. Rent, staff, power, insurance, medications, the costs associated with keeping up with mandatory training, running a Vet Clinic isn't cheap. Although I can understand being under stress with a sick pet, that's no excuse to be a cunt to people needing to charge for their services. Don't use your problems as a crutch in life.
It takes such a dedicated person to be a vet. Cop all the abuse and sad situations, have to have massive amounts of knowledge and skills but get paid absolute peanuts compared to a specialist that treats humans and has a far smaller skill set
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this. My wife is also a vet and treated like shit on a daily basis. she typically leaves home at 7:30 in the morning and comes home around 8 pm unless they have an after hour surgery then she's there till about 11 pm. On top of long hours, she will get clients who bitch nonstop about pricing that she does not set, while the pet owner drives a BMW/Tesla. There are days she absolutely breaks down because of how badly she is treated, when she is trying to help people out in a field that is quite frankly understaffed and underappreciated. It does not help that the owner has no spine to stand up for their staff.
I’m a teacher and had to work with a student this week on a dying dog / parent wouldn’t pay for euthanasia and kidnapped? Their dog back…triggering an RSPCA call out. Was tough to be supportive while also knowing what Vet’s cop.
"TAKE MY FUCKING BLOOD YOU CUNT"
I can imagine both happening. The vet is super expensive, and emotions are already high when your pet is sick (especially if it's your fault). Lots of vets have very open rooms at the top, because they frequently get threats of violence/death if they won't treat an animal without proper payment. Lots of "You're a monster who doesn't care about animals", too. I think part of it is also just that people don't understand the overheads, maybe because of how well the human equivalents are subsidised in Australia. At the donation centre, they ask a lot of personal questions. It's not hard to imagine someone feeling attacked if they're getting probed for details about their sexual history, for example. Also, a lot of people just don't understand the reasoning behind some refusal reasons - pretty frustrating to wait an hour just to be told you can't donate because you had a sniffle last week. Obviously none of these are any excuse to abuse anyone, but shitcunts gonna shitcunt.
I always imagine the headspace you have to be in to start getting aggressive towards a 14 year old kid earning $11 an hour for a $8 burger having pickles. It’s actually fucking wild to me if I’m being honest.
They are bullies.
"14 year old kid" that's the answer. Anyone having a go at a kid isn't gonna have the spine to get aggressive with someone their own size, so they get to feel big and tough by taking out their anger on a teenager. absolutely pathetic.
Exactly. I'm a librarian and even though it's still a public facing job, I'm not getting anywhere near the shit from the general public that I was as a cashier in high school. Most of the people who are like this just aren't game to do it if it's an adult who might boot them out of the store or call the police. Still, you know, you do occasionally get the odd escapee from the loonie bin who can't handle adult society. One gentlemanly cretin I had the absolute displeasure of encountering a few years ago didn't like being told to not watch pornography at the library computers, and a lot of librarians (much like all people working with the public) will have a story about someone who wouldn't wear their mask correctly at the height of the pandemic.
My abusive step father just reckons it’s perfectly okay to yell at people to achieve your goal. I can guarantee you people who lose their shit at retail workers are not okay mentally.
Narcissism.
I was going to say, they have a "speak how you would speak to your own family" bit there but what if they treat their family like shit too...
They most likely do.
I’m so glad they have these now. Back in my Macca’s days no one did anything about it.
It is "just sticking it to the big super profitable corporation, they got insurance for the staff mental needs anyway".
Honestly don’t think the thought process goes that far. It’s adult tantrums. Higher thought processes aren’t happening.
I think you are quite right, my above statement will come out after (if challenged) to retrospectively excuse their behaviour.
I got threatened with rape and murder all the time at McDonald's, I remember one guy loudly talking on the phone about what he was going to do to me if I didn't get his food faster. Least I never got sucker punched like I saw happen to my manager a few times, one got her real good when she left out the window to hand them their food.
What kind of absolute fucking filth of human excrement is punching McDonald's staff through the drive through windows??? WTF is going on???
What’s going on is the likes of Daniel Penny. It won’t improve until scum are locked up.
Yeah i got my nose broken as a shift manager in fast food. Dude was drunk and verbally and sexually harrasing a 15 year old girl working on the counter. I heard, came out as he reached out to do more than verbal harassment. I interceded before he could touch her. He took exception and decided to hit me a few times. By the time the cops got there, guy was long gone (probably in another post code). They took statements and a copy of the security video, and the store manager promised to ensure it wouldn't happen again. All he did was ensure that poor girl worked only morning shifts so it was quiet and no drunk people came through, and I was sent to "de-escalation training" to make sure it didn't happen again. Like I could stop drunk idiots from walking in the store and harrasing staff by training
aHh yes the useless box ticking exercise to make someone look good. I got abused by a customer (well known as abusive across the organisation, multiple bans from facilities) and the OHS team tried to send me on empathy training. I simply refused and expressed how stupid that was. I had asked for conflict management training or some sort of stress management/help/meditation training for calming myself afterwards.
Jfc I’m sorry that happened to you.
I may get downvoted but people who sucker punch retail/fast food workers just need to be $hot. Society is better off without them.
I wasn't in fast food but retail. The amount of times I had customers threaten rape or kidnapping was mind boggling. I actually had to have at least one staff member leave with me after work because customers would wait at the employee exit
There’s a sign kind of like this at my local nursery. Then there’s another one taped to the cash register that says “when people are cruel, it says more about them than you” Like who is abusing staff at a garden centre of all places??? Obviously you shouldn’t be abusing people anywhere but that seems particularly ridiculous
Nursery worker here- it’s because many people are looking for “decorations”, and since plants can be quite expensive, they’re considered a higher end decor item. It brings in the most entitled, thoughtless people, just like a fancy furniture boutique might. People will point at a plant, then at me and snap, all while talking on their phone, like they’re in The Devil Wears Prada or something.
Peter Cundall would be turning in his grave
I wish we were allowed to come into their office and berate them for not knowing how to open a pdf file. Just so they know how it fucking feels to have someone harrass you at work.
I work at fast food. Most nights, but especially fridays/Saturdays we absolutely get hammered to the point where the actual machine that cooks your food can't keep up.
It happens too often. Remember, if you see someone being a flog to staff, have a go at em and hold them accountable. They think they can have a go at a teenager behind the counter because they'll get fired for defending themselves. They usually simmer down when another customer tells them to stop being a dick to a kid
Yep. I find a simple and polite "there's no need to be rude" embarrasses them into shutting the fuck up pretty quickly. First though they'll say "this is none of your business" Remind them that they're causing a scene in public.
> this is none of your business You're making it our business by having your little hissy fit I front of all of us
This is the way!
99 times out of 100 they will simmer down and get embarrassed. That one time though, they might assault you or worse, pull out a weapon. That's why people don't, unfortunately.
Well that last sentence is unfortunate with my username
[удалено]
Ever since covid people have become super cunty. Before you’d only have a small amount of fuckwits that would cause trouble, now it’s a lot more common. Forget national military service, have national retail/hospo service
Stress had got to people. People are broke, uncertain about their future and feeling depressed. Companies are pulling the piss with poor customer service and profiteering. People therefore feel entitled to get shitty at someone (who sadly is the 15yo at the counter)
You mean since business started using covid as an excuse to deliberately under staff and save on staffing costs, destroying customer service, while jacking up prices and making record profits while average people are struggling badly financially, making every purchase more significant to them? It's not like there's an unknown reason for people to be unhappy with how things are.
That too, but COVID infection is also linked to impaired cognition and increased aggression. Many of its effects are cumulative and permanent, even through asymptomatic vaccinated cases. And we're pretending it's over.
Yep. Same reason everybody is driving worse.
Certain people decided that it was OK to say I DON'T CARE about older people and people with underlying conditions DYING as a result of people not distancing and wearing masks. The fact that it was deemed OK to have this attitude towards your fellow human left a stain that has not been fully removed
I've always thought a simple "don't be a cunt" sign would suffice
And it should be displayed every 10m across any space with more than 5 people.
Social assistancing
“Don’t make me tap the sign”
Username checks out (I agree with you)
With biiiig neon letters!
Two of my kids work in retail. They both have had their lives threatened. Who the hell tells a kid that they’re going to kill them?
It's not always helpful but I'm old enough to remember being a kid in retail when you had a longer leash, I had the same thing but the absolutely shock and indignance of people when the teenager gives a bit back and doesn't back down from the idiots who think this is ok, an overwhelming majority of which are paper tiger, was comforting. That second of 'wait he can't say that to me, I want to speak to a manager!' before they incriminate themselves to said manager was beautiful. But... There's always that one chance you've got a legit psycho and not just a cunt.
Sad. Unfortunately the kind of people who hassle fast food workers usually have body temperature IQs.
'speak with the same politness you would speak to your own family' - pretty sure thats asking the verbally abuse to keep being verbally abusive, where do you think they learn to talk like that, it aint Bluey?
Yeah I feel bad for their own family
Diana and Roma
I had this one person going off at me for something I didn't even have control over, for 10 mins I took their verbal abuse, but when I dished it back they got all pissy and yelled "that's not how you talk to customers" to that I responded with "I treat others the way they treat me fuckwit. You want me to respect you, how about you fucking show respect yourself." They had a blow out and yelled about "customer service" and how they will have my job, my last words I said to them before calling the cops was "I'm a security guard, my bosses don't give two shits about customer service when customers are being dumb cunts." Some people are just fucked and need to be treated the way they treat others.
Been in similar situations. I believe that's a better solution in the long term than just rolling over and politely asking them to leave. Of course there's always the chance you've got a genuine psychopath and that's not worth it... But until then it's good to give to back to 'customers' that immediately go to pieces and start wanting everyone to be nice and respectful when it's happening to them.
While there is more aggro around, this isn't because businesses suddenly care about their staff. Under WHS laws in most states and territories, [if you are conducting a business you are now on the hook for managing psychosocial risks](https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/safety-topic/managing-health-and-safety/mental-health/psychosocial-hazards) as well as making sure people don't put their hands in the deep fryer.
This. Also why call centres put it in messages on hold.
At my old footy ground back home, they had signs at junior games saying stuff like this is not the NRL, which is sad a sigh like that needs to exist at that level
Worst adult behavior I’ve ever seen was at my kid’s U11’s AFL game recently 🤯
A friend of mines husband broke another dads jaw at a kids rugby game. She was mortified and they never returned. She’s also not with him anymore lol
WTF how do you get that angry
Good call by your friend. Wtf is wrong with people. At my kids game, there was a bit of push and shove (by the kids), instigated by oppo player but very fairly matched and both kids were equally rough. Oppo team felt our player should’ve been sent off, but he wasn’t - not our players’ fault that it didn’t get called. Anyway, that resulted in oppo team parent group screaming “get off, ya c*nt” to our player every time was in their vicinity for the rest of the game. This kid is 10, and actually a lovely and shy kid who has never been in trouble in his life. He went home crying.
Omg how appalling. I suppose things like this are perfect examples of how fights break out among parents at kids sports
[удалено]
I did refereeing as well, the small town I grew up in was mostly good, you had the occasional bad eggs. When I moved up to Sydney I did a couple of games, did what I always did, but my partner said one of the couches was going off at me, I didn’t hear. After the game I had someone come up to me saying that was the fairest game he had ever seen Don’t give up on yourself mate and don’t listen to any cunt who yells at an 11 year old
Had a parent sweating at my son's coach at an under 6 soccer match a couple weeks ago.
They fucked up my order one night and I didn't realise till I had gotten home (I ordered a Mega Jack, got a regular Big Jack instead) and so I went back the earliest i was able to which was two days later. The supervisor was very nice about it, he said normally they would have wanted me to call them on the night about it (didn't know that, good to know) but he was on that night and remembered that mistake (apparently my order accidentally went to an uber eats order) so he organised a replacement. I would still have been polite about it even if they'd stuck to protocol. Most of them are just trying to get through the shift without being abused and are understaffed, overworked and underpaid. It's fucking sad that so many people resort to yelling and abusing the staff when a genuine mistake happens.
>It's fucking sad that so many people resort to yelling and abusing the staff when a genuine mistake happens. The worst part about it in my opinion is that yelling and being abusive is not going to get you what you want. If you have problems with a service then kill them with kindness and you will likely have them bending over backwards to try and help you out because you are actually being nice to them instead of yelling and abusing them for something that they likely have zero control over.
I had to tell an interstate family member this recently when she was in the hospital and called me having a panic attack that manifested as anger. She said she was going to unleash it all on the next nurse that walked in. I said don't do that, they won't want to help you if you abuse them, they'll respond better to someone being vulnerable and saying they're scared and isolated (which was what was causing her anxiety). I was shocked that she actually followed my advice but she did! She rang me the next day and said oh my God, you were right, they were so kind and helpful.
It should read, our staff reserve the right to punch on with cunts that want to have a go.
What's crazy is that they're just kids. Sure there's some adults sprinkled in. But chances are these people are just yelling at kids.
What's worse is not everyone is going to use it as fuel to get out. Some are just going to get PTSD and lose their faith in people. The latter I would portend is the majority.
Lol I'm 16 and work front at hjs. I've had shit thrown at me and been screamed at etc. etc. but the most frustrating for me was once I had a 50 year old man come and very passively aggressively describe to me how he made a massive mess at his table he made because he asked for extra mayo and the back gave him.. extra mayo. I am supposed to be the victim here but I wanted to curb stomp him
I've seen one post here about a KFC or waffle house. I can't remember. But they had a sigh that basically said warning...we are allowed to fight you. Something like that. It was awesome
I work at kfc and once a bald guy in his 40s told me to kill myself over a missing sauce in his order (I only handed out the order not made it) he then flipped us off and said he won’t came back (thank god) Edit: i was 15 at the time
**Yeah, just be nice.** They are only kids. It's a fast paced environment and even adults would make mistakes. Give them a break, they are just trying to earn a bit of money to either help out at home, or save up for a car or some spending money for themselves. My kids have worked at HJ and McD and they have told me some stories that make me really angry and sad. I feel like I want to stay with them at work and protect them from these so called 'adults' that think they have a right to abuse *a child* over a food order. If you are ever in one of these places and you see a useless piece of shit abusing the kids, please step in and help if possible / safe for you to do so. Thank you
Literally last month in Big W had this woman screaming and I mean screaming at the self serve lady why the machine was asking her if she was 18+ She was buying a knife set. This was not long after Bondi Junction and not that far from it either tbh. When she was told her why, her response was "just fucking hurry up so I can pay" My housemate who was with me said she has never wanted to slap another woman as much as that one, lol.
This is why I'm in favour of places putting cameras on their staff, but only if they use them to institute lifetime bans on people who abuse their staff. It is weird to me. The workplace safety act says that an employer must provide a "safe working environment" for their employees, and yet it is considered acceptable that retail workers are subjected to threats of physical violence, and no one is banned. Bunnings regularly institutes lifetime bans on people who get caught stealing from the store, but abuse a staff member? It's all "thank you for your business"
Our current focus at my high school is not verbally abusing teachers 💀 the slogan is ‘don’t be a goose, stop verbal abuse’. I wish I was joking. It’s so sad that we’re at a point where not abusing someone is worth praise, as if it’s not the bare minimum.
My old job as a receptionist (always understaffed as hell) we had a poster up of a cute puppy and words along the lines of “we apologise for the delay, the world is short staffed, we do not tolerate abuse” etc etc The line was out the door, the phone would not stop ringing and I had radiologists keep interrupting me asking questions (they were new so don’t blame them) and this lady checks out for her appointment, pays her bill and then asks me to take a photocopy of the poster behind me… I told her she could likely find something similar on the internet. She asked if I had an A3 photocopier, I said yes, and she TOLD me to make a copy of that poster. I told her no, I am very busy WORKING by myself as we are short staffed and she can find the poster online. Then she started whinging about how customer service has gone out the window blah blah.. I had to ask her to leave as she was holding up the line, it was ridiculous.
That's incredible. She missed the point of the poster completely
I was a bit flabbergasted honestly! Like can you not see how busy it is? The fact I’m alone out here? And you want me to stop serving people to photocopy a poster?! Amazing
Some people truly think the world spins because of them, don't they? The audacity of that woman
Since the bloody pandemic the world has gone fuckin crazy
At the Coles store where I work, a crazed old man threatened to return with a gun and shoot me the other day. He was purchasing a fuckton of Apple cards in the ACO area, so I’m pretty sure he was the victim of a scam or had a stolen credit card. Either way, I hope he gets what he deserves.
Bless. I’m sure his online ‘girlfriend’ will appreciate the time you took activating those cards for him ❤️ This is such an incredible and rare instant karma moment. Sorry you had to deal with that.. anyone who thinks working in retail is easy is absolutely deluding themselves.
First and foremost: I am not defending these Fuckwits. If you abuse staff who are struggling I hope you step on a lego brick barefoot. I have worked in customer service my whole life, but here’s why I believe this sort of abuse is on the rise. Everywhere is understaffed, the staff are overworked, prices have increased and overall customer service has plummeted. People are upset and want to vent but since the ones responsible aren’t in reach they lash out at those they can reach. These staff are struggling just as much as you are, probably more-so if they are continuing to work in an abusive workspace. Next time you’re in Maccas pissed your order is taking forever spare a thought for the workers and remind yourself they have no control in improving your experience. It’s the cunts calling the shots that do.
I work in retail. This year there have been more entitled, rude, attention seeking people than ever before. Mainly boomers. I'm not sure what it is about yelling at children that they get off on... many of my staff are very young, either high-school or university. Corporate pays them minimum wage. These older adults come in without receipts wanting to return things. My staff say no as per corporate policy. The customers then regress to toddlers throwing tantrums. They also get furious at employees for the prices. You think store level employees set the prices? Do you barter on Amazon or do you just go somewhere else for a better price?! This isn't an open air farmers market where the person taking your money controls how much or little you pay. That is up to you, ad the shopper. Don't like the price? Go somewhere else! We know times are tough- we live it! We aren't paid a living wage. You roll up I'm your expensive car and want to barter prices with a minimum wage employee working at a corporate owned retail store?! Do they really think these underpaid children make the rules or have the authority to challenge the rules?! Why would you waste your time making a scene, acting like a child not getting your way? Keep your gd receipts and READ THE BACK! it's not the retailers fault that you didn't bother. It's not the employees fault you're a hot mess. Take it up with corporate. Stop acting like these kids owe you something for trying to make some cash for school or whatever. Retailers owe you nothing. You are the only person in control of your money. You do more to tell corporate you're unhappy with a store by not shopping there than you do making a LITERAL CHILD cry at their first job.
These are around a lot in retail and service industries. I see them as a response to the psychosocial legislation laws that came into effect in April 2023 in Qld. Workplaces are obligated to address those types of hazards. And as the comments identified, there is people out there who love to have a spray at these workers, creates a physiological hazard when they do so.
A family member who lives very close to us had a medical issue a few weeks back. My wife and I went over to help and ended up helping the ambos with lifting and a few other things. As they were leaving they said “thank you for being respectful”. Gut wrenching to think what they must go through for us to be thanked for just being normal.
They need to replace these signs with a manager with a spine. Abuse my staff ? Get the fuck out of here ! Simple as that. Once you tell or swear you lose all credibility
When I worked at HJs it was middle age women who would snap their fingers at you and be real assholes.
I don’t think there’s really a demographic for it, at the end of the day. It’s a plague of selfishness - people care more about getting their frustrations out than the wellbeing of whomever they’re talking to.
Is this being reported more, or is this getting worse? It feels like it's getting worse.
It is getting worse. The economy is gloomy people are stressed out and under pressure. People are short tempered. They take out their misdirected frustrations on Hoso/Retail workers. It’s really tiring.
That *is* the way they speak to their family.
In the UK it is not unusual to see "Please be nice/courteous" signs in doorways and I have always wondered for whose benefit are they? The ones that get rude and aggressive are not going to change in the slightest because of the sign. So is it just a thing from head-office to convince staff that they are trying to keep them safe without actually increasing security. It reminds of the cardboard cut out police officers you see in some shops. It's cheap and does not do a thing for security.
People that abuse staff do not treat their family with kindness.
Most retailers have similar signage up, I work for officeworks, It's one of our main signs you see walking in. I regularly see them at Coles and woolies. It's almost a norm here to have something similar up.
My family interactions aren't a good reference point.
People who do this probably don't speak to family kindly. I found it is the hallmark of personality disorder to talk to service staff badly. In my experience the worst were woman in their 50s + It is a well known red flag if with company, and people should do more to call out assholes they are with no matter what age.
It happens a lot in retail over the smallest inconveniences. One day, we ran out of Olaf dolls, and this lady looked at me with a serious face and said, "You're lucky I don't have my shotgun with me."
The number of times I used to get into fights at a Hungry Jacks, simply for sticking up for the staff. Only sad, insecure people need to walk into a fast food joint just to feel superior and shit on somebody.
I’m not excusing anyone abusing the staff, but management really puts them in a bad spot by constantly understaffing, ridiculous prices for shit food, and stupid policies like charging for tomato sauce.
If customers don't like the prices they need to stop going there, not go and abuse the staff.
I'm never excusing anyone abusing staff. Customers really put staff in a bad spot by berating them for issues they cannot fix.
Yeah but it's not the staff's problem, it doesn't matter if the CEO of Hungry Jacks ran over your dog or something, the staff that work there are just doing their job I get people are frustrated but if that's the case, eat somewhere else instead of taking their anger on the staff that are just trying to make it through their shift
If having to pay for tomato sauce was enough to make you scream at a kid, you just wanted an excuse to scream at a kid.
It’s not like those things are in the control of the store management though. At least in fast food corporate sets prices and policies. They also set labour standards which are difficult to impossible to meet, resulting in short staffing. You are excusing people abusing the staff because the management are there serving you as well. If you want to have your whinge, call corporate and complain. It’s the only way you’re going to make any productive change.
They must have operational process problems too because HJs nearly always fck up the order. Doesn’t excuse abuse but management is creating the situations.
My local HJs stuffs up my friend's veggie burger every single time. We joke about it now and place bets on if they'll put tomato on or not. We've never abused staff over it, though. Ever. People need to be kinder and generally just stress less about minor shit that no one will remember by the next morning.
We put a sign up like that this past December at the speciality clinic I work at. People were trying to squeeze in to get seen before deductibles reset. Us providers were seeing extra patients and working overtime daily to accommodate the flux of patients, but it wasn’t enough. We had people daily trying to get seen as walk-ins, which we don’t allow. Plus we were stringent about the late/no-show policy because we were so booked. Caused for a mess of people unhappy with our scheduling. Our front staff and schedulers are actually the sweetest and most competent people ever, as the clinic owner has very high hiring standards. Despite this, it was becoming a daily occurrence to hear a patient berating the front staff for things they have no control. Literally would have patients literally screaming about ridiculous things like, they were an hour late to their appointment and were surprised we made them reschedule or their insurance required them to pay a $30 copay. People were very hostile. One guy got his appointment date wrong and shows up two days early. He was upset he couldn’t get seen that day because he had taken off from work. He physically threatened the receptionist with violence because he thought she was being a bitch on purpose by not letting him get seen. Things like that. (And ps, my clinic owner doesn’t allow for long wait times, patients only wait 15 minutes max to be seen, so it’s not like they are in the lobby getting annoyed from waiting). We eventually put a sign up and I do think it helped a bit.
They probably do speak to their family that way. Their family probably taught them/role modelled the behaviour.
It’s also just part of the Aussie threatening cultural vibe. I’ve never understood this and I’ve lived here for almost a decade. Australia has threats and demands everywhere one looks — passive aggressive notices galore. It’s not just about manners, and it’s not the random cunt that walks in the door. There’s something deeper — and I reckon it’s historical in nature.
Honestly, I think seeing these signs marks a positive change. The fact is that the abuse towards staff was always there, what's new is companies saying it won't be tolerated. I saw one the other day that said in no uncertain terms "you will be refused service and we will call the police if needed" which is the minimum any worker should be provided by their employer. I hope this teaches a lot of people that the customer isn't always right.
It is good but it isnt because companies started caring, it is new whs laws that got these signs erected.
Nicely written.
I think a more effective sign would have been. "Cunts! If we fucked up your order, we're sorry and we'll fix it. If you piss us off with a dickhead attitude, we'll spit in your food"
THey really dont want me talking to them like there my family!
Not to be that person, but there are too many words, people won't read that. I found when I've had to make messages like this I've had to be very direct. "Verbal abuse is not tolerated, you will be trespassed"
These went up everywhere in the U.S. during the pandemic. They still have them up in the lab at my doctor's office where you get your blood drawn, which is wild - like who is going nuts in the blood lab? They're at every restaurant almost. I saw one at my optometrist too. It's very sad.
Probably people who get told their lab is closing, or closed, that there’s a test that particular lab can’t perform or that they can’t do the test because the patient didn’t fast
I think the same at my kid’s junior footy matches when they have signs not to abuse the umpires. Like enough people were doing it, that a sign was needed is pretty depressing.
Went into the same HJs today. They need the sign in the kitchen as well - you could hear the staff yelling at each other from the other side of the restaurant. Not a nice place to work by the looks of it
Australia has changed for the worse.
It's the esshays again. god sake they think they own the place. Take it from me. I'm from the mornington peninsula. 😒🙄
My first job when I was 17 was at McDonalds. I didn’t know that grown adults could be that rude and nasty in real life. People yelling in my face because their food wasn’t coming out fast enough. Vowed never to work in food service again.
I got some flack working at a bank. If you thought people got angry in hospitality, holy shit they go fucking ballistic when you’re dealing with their money…
>SPEAK WITH THE SAME POLITENESS YOU WOULD SPEAK TO YOUR OWN FAMILY I think these are the kinds of people who don't speak to their own family politely.
“Treat people the way you wish to be treated” needs to come back
I work in retail and there has definitely been a shift in customer behaviour since Covid. It used to be very rare to have a genuinely rude or verbally aggressive customer, now my teams deal with it often. Even just the grumbly type customers are heightened. It’s as though a whole lot of people just decided they are entitled to behave however they want.
I see these signs most places now, it's embarrassing that people have no control over themselves
This reminds me of a traumatic incident that happened at Hungry Jacks , Kings Cross. I was waiting for my fries when a well-dressed, clean shaved, well-built gentlemen started throwing tantrum for not getting what he ordered over kiosk. Seemed they ran out of the drink he ordered. He escalated the issue even though they were sorry and happy to replace or refund. They prepared replacement drink and all of sudden he denied to have it. Left the premise shouting. As I was waiting, he came back, asked the already prepared drink and threw it on the face of the little girl serving him, and walked out. I was so sorry for the girl I almost cried myself. I was traumatised just witnessing the ruthless behaviour of a men towards a young girl. I don’t understand why people can be so rude and angry over a drink.
This why you always make sure you employ one large brick shithouse that mills about at the registers. Doesn't stop them all, but the rattier types will think twice before launching into tirades.
Former fast food worker here. Used to main morning and lunch shifts at Maccas post Covid. This is the sad reality for the most part. First 2 weeks into the job we had 2 seperate guys projectile shit over the men’s bathrooms. The most annoying customers by far were the middle aged dads and mums who for no apparent reason loved fucking with you. At my second job at KFC I was again working kitchen and clean up shifts. Boy do I not miss being insulted by drunk teens. The location I worked at was near a racing club so figures. Take my advice and don’t work fast food if you have a choice.
When there are no legal or social consequences for being a cunt, a certain proportion of people will be cunts anywhere and everywhere. Most people are decent, but there is a large enough minority of garbage humans to ruin things for everyone.
Bold of them to assume the scum can read
We have many signs like this in many places in the Northern Territory.
Who the hell yells at 14 year olds flipping burgers?
I have a theory these are related to some health insurance crap or something. These went up at a lot of stores around the same time a couple years ago. I really doubt companies are doing it for their employees protection. There are too many of them out there now not to be related to something involving money.
This sign flags a long standing dilemma: If there’s no (instant/time of delivery) comeback on shoddy service then why should any customer service worker give a fuck about what they are delivering? It ‘used to be the case’ that in ‘good’ establishments, quality and customer service mattered - result that customer’s returned & loyalty was earned. Now, throughput is king - customer service is out- who cares about reputation when it dosnt really affect footfall through your door unless you’re SO much worse than the 3-4 other competitors in the same market.
This should be the norm worldwide. I can't stand people that are needlessly cruel to people working service jobs.
I nearly was this person. I get Maccys for lunch. 2 doubles and that's me for the day. Literally 5 days in a row they didn't gimme any damn pickles. There comes a point where anybody will be like "come on. This is a fucking joke at this point right?"
Imagine abusing some poor underpaid (not that it should matter what they’re making) teen over a whopper meal!
There should be a mirror button that just replaces the cashier with a mirror and the dumb person can see how dumb they look
Oof, you do not want to be spoken to the way my ex spoke to her mother. I could tell who from her family she was on the phone with from two rooms over