Pass the awkwardness on and place yourself on the side of the employee and shame the employer:
“Oh man this is wild! Just to think that your employers has the audacity to instead of raising your salary to compensate inflation, they just passed that cost onto your customers. I would be so mad if I were you, to be forced to hope for the kindness of strangers instead of getting a liveable salary.”
Eeeh. I worked front end retail for 5 years (at the same place) and I hated it when people shit talked my employer to me. It feels like the customer wants you to join in and be like, “Yeah! It sucks here!” or something. I mean, what is the appropriate response? My boss or coworker(s) could easily overhear and even if they don’t, I’m not working here because I have a lot of options. Being told how much it sucks by others doesn’t feel good because yeah, I know.
I’d always think, “if you actually think it’s bad, then don’t give them money??” before giving them some stupid customer service-y answer like, “Oh no! It’s not like that here! I like it!”
Pass the awkwardness on and place yourself on the side of the employee and shame the employer:
“Oh man this is wild! Just to think that your employers has the audacity to instead of raising your salary to compensate inflation, they just passed that cost onto your customers. I would be so mad if I were you, to be forced to hope for the kindness of strangers instead of getting a liveable salary.”
Eeeh. I worked front end retail for 5 years (at the same place) and I hated it when people shit talked my employer to me. It feels like the customer wants you to join in and be like, “Yeah! It sucks here!” or something. I mean, what is the appropriate response? My boss or coworker(s) could easily overhear and even if they don’t, I’m not working here because I have a lot of options. Being told how much it sucks by others doesn’t feel good because yeah, I know.
I’d always think, “if you actually think it’s bad, then don’t give them money??” before giving them some stupid customer service-y answer like, “Oh no! It’s not like that here! I like it!”
Ouch, yes, you’re right.
I still think that one should pass the shame on to the employers but I’ll amend that to not put the employee in the middle of it all.