tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post3404411845478727568..comments2024-02-25T05:24:24.948-05:00Comments on Beyond Easy: A Caribbean Lesson in CourtesyPatrick Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-56589101012024251782024-02-17T03:02:46.074-05:002024-02-17T03:02:46.074-05:00This Media-lord helped me gain remote access to my...This Media-lord helped me gain remote access to my cheating husband's (Now ex) phone activities and gained me remote access to his phone activities, I was able to read his texts, sex chats and viewed most dating sites he registered. This really helped me gather most proof I needed during divorce, you can reach out to the media lord if you think your partner might be cheating on you, he's reachable via 'hackingloop6@gmail.com, or text him on WhatsApp +1(484)540 - 0785,his service is affordable.<br />Wholsomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07842023347522615909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-46797181925986680182021-02-16T04:49:07.610-05:002021-02-16T04:49:07.610-05:00Ah! Thanks for this!Ah! Thanks for this!Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-315184671592536242021-02-08T22:55:18.090-05:002021-02-08T22:55:18.090-05:00I'd suggest that there may also be a more colo...I'd suggest that there may also be a more colonial history effect on the use, or insistence, of the use of phrases Good Morning, Good Day or Good Night (as a greeting as well as a farewell). Here in Barbados it is also expected, and you can get thrown off a bus if you do not say Good Morning to the driver, as well as a general Good Morning to everyone on the bus when you take your seat. <br /><br />They say it has a connection back to the times of emancipation. As up until then, slaves were designated less than human, they were to be ignored and not spoken to. So the use of "good morning" is seen as a confirmation of being a human, who is deserved of common manners and the decency of a greeting. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10701624119740170446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-66542200237900599132016-01-19T12:57:19.453-05:002016-01-19T12:57:19.453-05:00Yes, the open-endedness is something I noticed whe...Yes, the open-endedness is something I noticed when being greeted in English. In French, it's usually something like "Vous allez bien?" which means "Are you well?". It's a bit more straightforward, since it's a yes/no question and almost nobody ever replies no anyway.Paul Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04080407233499755600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-60708674627614130672016-01-19T00:25:29.254-05:002016-01-19T00:25:29.254-05:00I know exactly what you mean. But that's why I...I know exactly what you mean. But that's why I never bother asking a subject how they're doing, unless they either look like they'd respond positively to the question or it's a slow day and I'm bored. It IS usually phony and perfunctory, and I think the subjects and I would prefer not to waste our time.<br /><br />One of my problems with the customer service ritual is that I never know how to reply when a subject asks ME how I'm doing. "Still alive," is my default answer. It has gotten me into trouble with my superiors. ("Why can't you just say fine?" "BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE DISHONEST.")Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-71087672826222335122016-01-19T00:21:59.742-05:002016-01-19T00:21:59.742-05:00Ouch. I'm sorry you were put in that position....Ouch. I'm sorry you were put in that position. Canvassing is an odious event for everyone involved. (Except for the eventual recipients of the charity, of course, and the foundation that enjoys a slice of the proceeds.)Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-7774156591592081782016-01-19T00:16:28.630-05:002016-01-19T00:16:28.630-05:00Chitchat is unnecessary. That's why the typica...Chitchat is unnecessary. That's why the typical English greeting "how are you" doesn't make any fucking sense. You don't lead off with an open-ended question that strangers probably won't wish to answer honestly. It's cumbersome and meaningless.<br /><br />The Virgin Islands greeting is a ritual of respect proffered and reciprocated. No bullshitting need follow once the proper salutations have been made.<br /><br />I think it's totally acceptable to say "just looking" if you're answering the question "what can I do for you?". It's probably even appropriate for "how are you?". It's only rude as a response to a declarative salutation.Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-14581544544625603132016-01-19T00:06:24.022-05:002016-01-19T00:06:24.022-05:00Allo.Allo.Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-29597297734936379122016-01-13T20:18:43.836-05:002016-01-13T20:18:43.836-05:00P.S. That was me. Emily S.P.S. That was me. Emily S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-5987929608740717622016-01-13T20:18:10.301-05:002016-01-13T20:18:10.301-05:00Oh, this is so beautiful and lyrical and smart.
...Oh, this is so beautiful and lyrical and smart. <br /><br />I've often thought it's funny that in today's American English "Good morning," "Good afternoon," and Good evening" are greetings, but "Good night" is a goodbye. I've seen the first three used as exit lines in old books and movies, but not in the wild today.<br /><br />"Before you and I conduct our business, before you say what you want from me or I ask something of you, let's take a short moment for a dignified acknowledgement of one another's humanity." -- Yes. Yes. We should do that.<br /><br />A few years ago I was waiting at the information desk at Barnes & Noble while an employee looked something up for me. While I was standing there, three other customers walked up and asked him things. The exchanges began like this:<br />Employee: "Hello."<br />Customer: "Cookbooks?"<br />or<br />Employee: "Hi, can I help you?"<br />Customer: "Mysteries?"<br />or <br />Employee: "Hi."<br />Customer: "Biography?"<br />I must have said something or looked surprised, because he turned back to me and said, "Yeah, I don't hear 'hello' much in this job."<br /><br /><br />As for street canvassers greeting people with openers like "Would you like to help poor kids today?" -- IT'S A TRAP. I hate that. I don't hate you, O commenter unknown to me, but I really hate those lines they made you say in that job. Those "greetings" have nothing to do with acknowledging each other's humanity. They're manipulative.<br /><br />A lot of this is tangled up with my loathing of the pyramid scheme fundraising tactics of companies like Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (Read that again-- GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGNS, INC. I mean. Come on.) I don't donate to their canvassers as a matter of principle, because I don't want to support this gross fundraising model, and because I don't want the majority of my paltry contribution to go to the middleman. <br /><br />But anyway, I resent the implication that if I don't stop to talk to this particular exploited clipboard-wielder, it's because I don't want to help poor kids, or I don't have a minute for reproductive rights, or whatever. <br /><br />I do think there is a lot to be said for the intrusion of the larger world into spaces like malls where we're otherwise just going around shopping in our little bubbles-- to counter, as Patrick puts it above, "the tendency of a capitalistic social organization to estrange people from their work, from themselves, and from each other." When your mind is stuck on the "Why is it so hard to find pants in my size" channel, it's good to be jolted out of it somehow. But not that way. Please, not that way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-49504683620279517542016-01-11T12:06:21.651-05:002016-01-11T12:06:21.651-05:00I always found chit-chat with strangers difficult,...I always found chit-chat with strangers difficult, especially salespeople. I guess I sometimes blurt out the wrong canned response, which can be a bit insulting, but it evens out when you realize the other persone doesn't actually care if you're having a good morning or not. On the flipside, when they ask you how you are doing, they sometimes eye the queue behind you, as in "yeah, yeah, make it quick, boyo". Other times, when you give your answer, their eyes glaze over, that's always a nice touch, lol.<br /><br />In all fairness, I think a salesperson's mood and niceness is a function of how long they've been on shift, but I haven't tested it scientifically. And I think "just looking" is a very important part of the customer service dance: one party gets to peek at the merchandise without someone looking over their shoulder, while the other doesn't waste his time on someone that doesn't want to buy anything.Paul Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04080407233499755600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-62519995357224819342016-01-10T22:54:59.577-05:002016-01-10T22:54:59.577-05:00Working as a waiter, I keep these greetings locked...Working as a waiter, I keep these greetings locked in, like it's a part of my verbal code. In the restaurant business at least, you can't be expected to converse with a customer without some basic pleasantries. So for me it begins to feel tedious, and almost too phony/perfunctory to really serve any function. The tossed-off "Hello, how are you doing?"-"Not bad, yourself?" exchange is bad enough, but it does end up even worse when it's "Hello, how are you doing?"-"Water with lemon please."Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10280388202195799767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-77833363144603247202016-01-09T19:18:31.649-05:002016-01-09T19:18:31.649-05:00I recently worked for a charity standing at a boot...I recently worked for a charity standing at a booth in busy shopping malls. I was instructed to approach people with a brief greeting and a question such as "Would you like to help poor kids today?" or "Could you spare some change for kids in need?" It was an education in human nature. In a single day and within minutes of each other you could get anything from incredible compassionate and friendly motorbike-gang looking muscleheads to caustic and appallingly hateful adorable old women and everything in between. From "Oh my God, please tell me how can I help" to "I'm not going to give any of my money away just because some foreign tramp couldn't keep her legs closed". From "Thank you very much for doing this, you're doing God's work" to "fuck you".<br /><br />The one thing that always got me and shouldn't, though, was people answering to my questions with a curt "no". I knew deep inside that they did not even listen to the question and the "no" was just an automated swatter they swung at the annoying mosquito of my undesired approach, but man... to hear someone replying just "no" to a plea to help some of the most unfortunate kids in the world, I couldn't help to be filled with indignation and contempt. I mean, of course no one is obligated to donate, but not displaying at least some humanity while declining seemed just atrocious.Maokunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15459710218366288832noreply@blogger.com