Work Ethic Epidemic

My husband and I snuck away to the movies last night while our kids were sleeping (don't worry, the grandparents came and stayed with them). We both used to work at a movie theatre- it's where we met 11 years ago. And although we were just "kids," we took our jobs very seriously. It wasn't just something we did to make enough money to pay for our texting bills - we had actual bills. We had a dress code that we strictly adhered to. We treated customers with respect, we cleaned to the best of our ability, we did well.

As we stood in line, which was long, another cashier opened a window. Back in our day, if we did this, I would say "Could I please help someone over here?" Not in this day and age. "PEOPLE - there are THREE LINES - break yourselves up and USE THEM" was how she "helped." Wow.

Then at concession, they barely spoke to us. They were unable to count back change. In the theatre itself, there were spills all over the floor from the previous movies that hadn't been mopped. In "our day," we didn't allow customers into the theatre until it had been swept and mopped. We saw workers exiting the theatre - but they had obviously forgotten why they went in!

Earlier in the week, we were at Kmart. Ok, not the most prestigious store I'll give you that, but the ONE line open was getting long and the lady at the front couldn't get her debit card to work. The cashier in line next to us said to another associate (very loudly), "I'm supposed to be off now. But should I stay and help someone?" Um, YES, you should, HELLO?!

And at Game Stop, the cashier was on the phone. My husband waited and waited to be helped. She kept looking at him, then turning around to continue her private conversation. "Do you think your friend could be put on hold for 1 minute while you do your job?" my husband asked. She acted like she was totally put out (and she dressed like she totally would put out).

Ugh. What is this world coming to? People today - of all ages, not just teens - just don't care, they don't try, they don't do anything well. How are we supposed to model for our children when everyone acts this way? It's a sad epidemic - and I'm on a mission to change some of our workers in my town. Look out, the customer service police is on patrol.