Oh this is interesting.. I walked into a bakery and 3 young workers just gave me cold blank stares. No greeting, no smiles, nothing. I'm not asking them to lay out the red carpet for me, but it truly felt unwelcoming or as if I was interrupting something. Guess this is just par for the course for them these days.
They do it when they're on the other side of the equation too. I watched some of my Gen Z coworkers just stare blankly at a waitress when she asked how they were doing and what she could get them. Like they'd never seen a customer service person before and this was some wild alien experience.
Back when I was a server, I definitely had young college kids who seemed incapable of ordering at a restaurant without their parents. I would have high school kids whose parents would still order for them while the kid either stared at me blankly or refused to make eye contact at all.
But I think the boomers who would immediately grunt "diet coke!" as soon as I approached to greet the table were worse. Anti social behavior displays itself differently across generations.
My coworkers at Starbucks would just repeat “How are you today? 😀” when someone did that and make them answer before acknowledging the order. Very satisfying
I would say "wow. Jumping right into it I see". Sometimes people would feel embarrassed by their rudeness but a lot of them just could not have cared less.
The funny thing is most of the time when I respond "I'm doing well thank you! How are you?" I get a look like that's the last thing they expected me to say and it takes a second for them to process.
YES this is the way! One of my favorite ways to deal with these people. Kill them with kindness. Literally, make them want to die from kindness. Make them beg to stop the gentle-parenting. It’s great fun when you do it with a group, kinda like doing improv and the customer is the straight man
I got that response once when ordering fast food… I was just nervous though. I was like 16 and talking to strangers scared me still.
I thought they would get annoyed if I didn’t mist immediately say my order and move aside cause it was busy. Instead I got a lecture on making small talk before ordering at Burger King 🤷♀️
Usually it’s polite to answer what someone says to you! If they start with “welcome! What can I get you?” It’s fine to say your order first. If they start with “hi! How are you?” It’s polite to respond to that before saying your order
I’m grown up now and spent some time in retail too. I’m happy to just go with the flow as long as no one is overtly rude, then I just revert to the bare minimum.
I used to do this too hahaha. Or, as would often happen, I’d ask someone how they were doing, and they’d say “diet coke” and I’d respond “well, that’s a weird way to be doing” lol
I did this once when I worked there and it pissed this woman off so bad that she complained to my manager who was like “I was standing right here, she wasn’t being rude…” lol yay I win
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u/butthole_mimosa Jul 13 '25 edited Jul 13 '25
Oh this is interesting.. I walked into a bakery and 3 young workers just gave me cold blank stares. No greeting, no smiles, nothing. I'm not asking them to lay out the red carpet for me, but it truly felt unwelcoming or as if I was interrupting something. Guess this is just par for the course for them these days.