The Others

I work in the world of customer service. Customer service is a very large world ranging from fast food to department stores. One thing I’ve learned in working in customer service is that the general public is imbecilic. I am not trying to be rude but I’m sure others have noticed this as well. For the most part people are usually social and nice, but then there are the Others.

What is an Other? An other is the type of person who while at their home they are intelligent people but once they step into the shoes of being a customer their IQ drops and their social skills disappear. It is very hard to spot one of these people until they reveal themselves. Others transcend race, gender, and social upbringing they can be anyone.

How do they reveal themselves? There are actually many way for them to show their Other status it just depends on what kind of customer service situation they are in at the moment.

What’s the Situation?

The first situation to look at is at a grocery store. Some Others instantly recognize their own kind and will stop to chat in the middle of the aisle using their shopping carts as road blocks. These Others are so absorbed in their own world that they fail to notice that no other shoppers can reach the butter! Also, if you politely say excuse me so you can reach the margarine they look at you like you just burped the alphabet.

The next situation is the department store. These Others are the messy ones. They flip over neatly piled and folded shirts looking for their size then throw the shirt somewhere on the table after unfolding it and deciding something was wrong with it. It takes about 2 seconds to refold the shirt but common courtesy is usually left in their car. Others also seem to take some pleasure in trashing fitting rooms. If something is on a hanger going into a fitting room decency should tell an Other to put it back on the hanger and not in a inside out pile of denim thrown on the floor.

The Others do more than just shop, like anybody else they also like to be entertained. Which brings us to waiting in line at the movie theater. Concession lines are usually busy on weekends and we have all come to expect it, but an Other will only make it worse. They will stand there in a clustered pack of Others complaining about the wait, when they get to the front of the line they start thinking about what they would like to order. Instead of chatting so much in the line they could have looked up at the big board above the concession stand so they could be ready before they were at the front of the line holding everyone else up.

The Others Can’t Read Signs

There are many examples of this but I will only list a few. Many Others like to ask where is the bathroom? There is nothing wrong about asking if there are no signs but if there is a giant pink neon sign saying Restrooms you probably shouldn’t have asked. Asking, Is this the right price? when the price is listed on the tag is another clue someone is an Other. Stores aren’t really known for putting wrong prices on tags. Do Not Enter really means Check This Out to an Other. I think you get my meaning about reading before thinking so I’ll move on.

Are You One of the Others?

I admit I used to be one. After working in customer service for 10 years I learned a lot about being more aware of what is around me and how it affects others. If you recognized yourself in these examples maybe now you can be more aware also. Maybe all we need to make our society a little better is to just look up at the big board and make a decision before reaching the front of the line or if we all refolded the shirt we picked up or didn’t stop in the entrance of stores. Maybe if we all just read the signs we can learn to make a better more courteous society.