Open Letter to 'Customers'

Dear Ignorant Patron:

Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence today and sharing your overwhelming wisdom.  I am so glad that I was fortunate enough to be here to take your abuse, not because you were provided with sub-standard service, but merely because of your apparent belief that you are above anyone that works in any service industry.

There are many things I would have liked to say to you today, however despite the fact that you believe I have no value and I work in a dead-end brainless job, I actually ENJOY my job, and therefore had to hold my tongue, lest I cross the line and leave my employers no choice but to fire me.  Given the chance, the following are just a few highlights of what I would have said to you:

At the end of the day when I leave work, I take off my uniform knowing that I worked hard.  I am not defined by my job, and with or without my uniform I am still a valued mother/sister/daughter/wife/friend/aunt.   At the end of the day, you can change your clothes, but you are still an ignorant asshole.

There is nothing in my job description that says because I work in customer service, it is ‘part of my job’ to put up with your offensive language, childish yelling, insults and rage.  In fact if you were as educated and worldly as you indicated, you would know that the Canadian Labour Laws clearly state that I do not have to put up with abuse of any kind.  Good luck getting service or assistance next time you come here.

Throwing your trash on the ground ‘because they pay someone to clean up’ and because ‘you are helping some moron earn a living’ is wrong.  Throwing your trash on the floor just shows how low-class you are, and helps to create service slow downs when someone has to clean up after your boorish behaviour.

Thank you for letting me know that if I had a real education I could get a ‘real job.’  For the record, I have an education, and I actually choose to do this job.  Many of my co-workers also have an education, but choose to be here because of flexible hours or because they also enjoy the work.  Some of my co-workers are paying for their education by working this job.   Some are young, and this is their first job, which is providing them with spending money and valuable life experience.   Some have learning disabilities, but have managed to learn, succeed and excel.  All of us work hard, and earn our pay cheque, and none of that gives you the right to judge any of us.

We in the service industry continually do our best to provide you with what you require in a fast and courteous manner.  Sure, there are exceptions to this.  Like life, no industry is without its duds.  If you have received sub-standard service anywhere, there are proper channels through which you can make a complaint and attempt to have the situation rectified.  Going off half-cocked at the front line worker, who may or may not be responsible for the issue, and who may or may not be able to solve it, just makes you a jerk.  The sun does not shine out of your ass, your shit does stink, and the fact that you are a paying customer does not make you a 'better' human being than I.

Thank you for reading,

The many hundreds of thousands of service industry workers that are exhausted with juvenile abuse from customers.

Riots? Really people?

I am sure this first statement will make people mad at me.  I know it is not a popular view.  But I did say it to a few people before Wednesday night, and it bothers me that I was right.

There were going to be riots, whether Vancouver lost or won. 

I would love to sit here and say that I am surprised at the extent of the damage.  I would love to say I am so shocked that some of my fellow British Columbians would take part in this despicable behavior.  I would like to say that I never expect anything like this to ever happen again.  I can not say any of that.

I knew that there were going to be riots.  Had my daughters asked to go to Vancouver for the final game, the answer would have been a resounding NO.  There is no way that I would have allowed them to be there, despite the fact that they are both intelligent, responsible, aware, lovely young women.  Knowing that the riots were going to occur did nothing to change the feelings of dismay, horror, sadness, embarrassment and frustration as we watched the destruction.

What I did not expect was how profoundly these riots affected my mood on Thursday; and I was not alone in that.   There was a gray cloud that hung over B.C yesterday and it had nothing to do with the weather.  It didn’t matter where in the province you lived; you felt it and you saw it everywhere.

Floating in that cloud are questions, and undeniably the loudest, most asked question is: WHY??

I have sat and looked at hundreds of photos.  I have watched hours of video footage.  I had to stop because it made me so sad, and so scared for the future.   As I watched, the one thing that I noticed was that in a majority of cases the individuals committing these acts were male, between 18-29 years of age, seemly well dressed (Canucks jerseys are NOT cheap) so one can presume they are not from the marginalized population.  If I wanted to be stereotypical I would call them ‘poor little rich kids.’  That is not to say that everyone show on tap comes from an affluent house/neighbourhood/upbringing.  And that is also not to say it was only 18-19 year old males that took part in this.

So what it is that is going on that makes it acceptable in the minds of these individuals, specifically this age group, that they feel that this type of behavior is ok?  Don’t get me wrong, this twisted mindset is not new to me.  Keep in mind what I do for a living.  I am faced with what I can only call an attitude of entitlement on a regular basis.  In the past when I managed student residences we continually saw a lack of responsibility, a lack of concern from some individuals for damages, and most times it was deemed as ‘hilarious.’  How have we moved so far backwards as a society that today’s youth basically find joy and pleasure in the ‘rape and pillage’ mindset of centuries ago?

I have theories.  I have sure many people have theories...we could debate, share, argue, brainstorm and so on about all the theories…De-sensitization due to mass media and entertainment, children growing up with more because they are given more by their parents (done with the best of intentions), the glamorization of thugs, society failure to ensure children learn personal responsibility (our school system becomes more and more of a joke each day).  All of these and many more can be pointed to as reasons.  But in the end who cares what the reasons are? 

When are we going to fix it?  When are we, as a society, going to stand up and say enough?  When will we stop the bullying at ALL levels, starting with the government?  When will we as Canadians start to take a stand, to speak our minds, to get control back of our towns, our provinces and our country?  It is only through this that things will start to change.  Enough with apathy.  Time to stand up and give a damn.  Time to care about your neighbour, your city your country.  Time to make the government accountable at all levels.  And time to make individuals accountable for their individual actions.

Time to wake up Canada.  We live in one of the best countries in the world.  We have so many rights and freedoms.  This is a democracy; we have the chance to say our piece.   Yet we choose to riot over SPORTS?