LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,732
- Location
- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
As noted, there are execeptions. But every bizarre interaction I've ever had in a decade and a half of dealing with the public on a daily and up-close basis has been with an individual fitting the description given. It's a very specific sociocultural type that would demand that I admit her two friends -- free -- to a sold-out event that isn't even being put on by us, and would act insulted when I had to explain to her why I couldn't. "But I'm a MEMBER!" (I mentioned this incident to the promoter of the event in question, and she rolled her eyes and shrugged and said, "Entitled, aren't they?") Or the woman who called our box office manager last week and demanded a free ticket to a show because she was coming "only as a companion" to a friend, and wasn't interested in the show herself and didn't see why she should have to pay for a ticket. Or the woman who called me *at home* on a Sunday morning to demand that I come down and sell her a ticket because she was only going to be in town for a few minutes. And I've had enough interaction with other people in the business outside of this area to get the sense that this is not a strictly local phenomenon.
My mother spent twenty years at the admission desk of a local hospital, and when I told her some of my stories she'd say "Yeah, I remember her. What a snotty b*tch." I don't go so far as to say *that*, but I do argue there's a definite culture of personal entitlement going on that certainly seems to be much less common outside this particular socioeconomic cultural group, an expectation that the world should operate at all times according to their personal convenience.
I'd love to be wrong about this, but whenever I think I am, some lady shows up and insists she should be allowed to fill up her 32 ounce personal coffee cup for the same price we charge for a 10 ounce paper cup. "But I brought my own cup! Won't that cover the difference?"
(And these gals never ever have blue hair. It's usually bleached blonde, cut in a chin-length wedge, with a green or purple streak.)
My mother spent twenty years at the admission desk of a local hospital, and when I told her some of my stories she'd say "Yeah, I remember her. What a snotty b*tch." I don't go so far as to say *that*, but I do argue there's a definite culture of personal entitlement going on that certainly seems to be much less common outside this particular socioeconomic cultural group, an expectation that the world should operate at all times according to their personal convenience.
I'd love to be wrong about this, but whenever I think I am, some lady shows up and insists she should be allowed to fill up her 32 ounce personal coffee cup for the same price we charge for a 10 ounce paper cup. "But I brought my own cup! Won't that cover the difference?"
(And these gals never ever have blue hair. It's usually bleached blonde, cut in a chin-length wedge, with a green or purple streak.)