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Get Promoted with a YES! Attitude? Yuck.

By Barbara Ehrenreich, AlterNet. Posted February 10, 2007.


It's not enough these days for employees to slave to the bone -- workplace motivators are pushing us to squeeze a smile out of our hefty workloads.
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First, starting way back in the 1950s, you had to be "positive" to get ahead in business, i.e., ready to see the glass half full even when it was lying shattered on the floor. Then, somewhere in the first few years of the 21st century, the bar was raised to "passionate." It wasn't good enough to feel "positive" about spending your day doing cold calls to potential customers in Dayton, you be had to be "passionate" about it. And now, apparently, even that isn't good enough -- you have to develop a YES! Attitude, as in throwing back your head, balling up your fists, and screaming YEESSS!!!

The purveyor of this new over-the-top, fan-like, enthusiasm is Jeffrey Gitomer, in his brand new Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. What attracted me to the display in the bookstore was the odd packaging: a hardcover, but smaller than the average paperback, with a bright red ribbon for a page-marker (a biblical touch, someone in the publishing industry explained to me.) Most of the pages contain fewer than 200 words, but don't try filling in the margins with notes: The pages are too slick and shiny for your average pen, so if you want to make notes, get your own damn paper.

How do you achieve a state of transcendent YES!-like excitement about your job? Brainwashing is recommended. Gitomer himself read Napoleon Hill's 1937 classic of delusional thinking -- Think and Grow Rich -- over 100 times in one year and watched the same motivational video five days a week plus weekends. While reading the gurus and reciting the prescribed self-affirmations, it helps to cut off contact with the outer world. In particular, Gitomer says, don't watch the news. It's all "negative" anyway.

Of course you'll have to purge your environment of "negative" people too, as all the motivational gurus advise. Gitomer tells us he walks away from their "pity parties" to "focus on me." "Let nothing or no one get in your way."

Now, with Darfur, global warming, Iraq and any recently bereaved or otherwise afflicted co-workers out of the way, you can "SMILE ALL THE TIME." "A simple smile," Gitomer tells us, "is a powerful atti-tool." Smiles "show your internal feelings, externally." And if you don't actually feel smiley internally, just fake it till you make it.

Nobody said it would be easy. In fact, the YES! Attitude takes constant maintenance, and one of the illustrations shows Gitomer wearing a blue work shirt with the label "Positive Attitude Maintenance Department" on his chest. Read something "positive" every day, say "positive things all day long." Practice being "selfish on the inside" while exuding helpfulness on the outside.

Don't be distracted by the crude selfishness. What Gitomer and countless other motivational gurus are recommending is the mentality of a crafty slave: "Oh master, I am SO glad you transferred me to the Dayton accounts (even though they've been inactive for 18 months), and, while I'm at it, would you like me to polish your shoes with my neck tie?" Smiles, at least in human society, are gestures of submission, and routinely demanded of women as a token of subordinate status. The happy slave smiles; the well-trained "lady" smiles; now even the male white collar striver has to keep his lips pulled back in an expression of eager compliance. Only the top guys get to snarl and snap their way through the day.

Here's another idea, one that's every bit as "positive" as the gurus advise: Call it Constructive Complaining. Don't avoid "negative" people -- seek them out and talk about what needs to be changed. Remember the movie "Nine to Five," where the much-put-upon characters played by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton finally get together to share their woes and plan the overthrow of an abusive boss? Take your grievances seriously and turn that "pity party" into a revolutionary strategy meeting.

Digg!

See more stories tagged with: corporate ladder, business strategies

Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of 13 books, most recently "Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream."

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Change...
Posted by: ahmlco on Feb 10, 2007 12:34 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"... seek them out and talk about what needs to be changed."

Instead of talking about who is to blame, or what everyone else should be doing, or how management or sales or support needs to change, perhaps one should ask, "What can I do to improve the situation?"

The only actions you have 100% control over are your own. How can you solve the problem? What can you do, right now, to fix it?

As to the rest, most of these books aren't telling you to be a happy little slave. What they are saying is that, ultimately, your job and your career and perhaps even your business or company depend on your actions. If you have an "attitude" or are surly or constantly negative then it's going to have an impact on all of them.

Do YOU like being around such people? Do you patronize establishments where the employees are rude? Have you even left a place thinking, "With people like that they're not going to be in business long."

Are you that employee?

Again, it's not about being a slave. It is, however, about recognizing that you are being paid for your time and your work and that you're continually being judged on your performance... and your attitude.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Change... Posted by: Col. Mortimer Fudge (ret.)
» RE: Change... Posted by: ahmlco
» RE: Change... Posted by:
» RE: Change... Posted by: ahmlco
» RE: Change... Posted by: etyler
» RE: Change... Posted by: ahmlco
» RE: Change... Posted by: aethr
» RE: I think I'm going to be ill . . . Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» RE: I think I'm going to be ill . . . Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» RE: To quote Tyler Durden, "Take some responsibility..." Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» RE: To quote Tyler Durden, "Take some responsibility..." Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» One of... Posted by: JoshuaLudd
» RE: To quote Tyler Durden, "Take some responsibility..." Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» RE: To quote Tyler Durden, "Take some responsibility..." Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» RE: To quote Tyler Durden, "Take some responsibility..." Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
» RE: Change... Posted by: jmooney
See the Colonel's Post Below --and levity here?
Posted by: citizen chump on Feb 10, 2007 1:58 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
NOTICE - Please see the post by Colonel Fudge - eloquent
and dead on. Meanwhile, a typical day at the office:

From a drama in progress entitled: They Sell their
Soul for so Little and Crave the Taste of the Boot.

Boss: SMITH!

Smith: Yes, Mr. Boss

B: Any customer who complains about the last shipment
of defective thinking - well, you know what to do....

S: Forward their name to the blame the unAmerican
thinking list?

B: (Smiling) Smith, my boy, with out you we would have
never won the prestigious Willy Loman award last
year. I'm sending you and your family to Disney
World --- and make sure those documents relat-
ing to that "other matter" are shredded.

S: (Beaming with the happiness of a Gestapo thug)
Right, boss. Right after I call the wife with the
good news! Oh boy, a week at Disney World.
I can't wait to abuse the staff.

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Barack Omania
Posted by: anothername on Feb 10, 2007 3:13 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As I type this, yet another news item has come on the radio about Barack Obama announcing his campaign for president. As with the demand that employees smile, smile, smile, the rush to admire Barack Obama as a presidential candidate has a feel-good goal.

This is similar to many, many people I encounter who care only about their own inner peace and spend hours upon hours talking about finding their right path, which somehow will magically solve all the world's problems. (Apparently these people do not understand addiction and that some people will always find their peace and joy by seeking to control money and people.)

To the person who wants to know what an employee can do ... try being a whistleblower. It will wreck havoc on your personal income and you will need to find some other reference or explanation for leaving the job, but individual employees have a whole lot more power than they think; it is only a matter of what they are willing to give up to exercise that power.

The greater problem with the smile campaign is that our economy is reducing job options. I have encountered many wait staff and retail store personnel who have no business being in those positions. Indeed, I won't apply for such jobs because I know my personality is not the type that I would want to encounter as a customer in a retail store. It limits my job options, but I am happier, as are the people who visit the store or restaurant.

The type of people who hunt for solutions such as forced smiles to solve corporate problems is too big a problem to discuss in this limited venue. However, it is worth noting that a large number of new business owners I meet only want to hear the success stories of other people. They believe that there is, again, a magical solution to low income. Alas, these same people refuse to look at politics or economics, thus they are missing the reality that potential customers simply do not have any money. No matter how many positive stories these new owners hear, the best run, most innovative business still needs customers with money to spend. No amount of forced smiling can pull oil out of a well that has been pumped dry of every drop of fuel.

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despair
Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line on Feb 10, 2007 5:36 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
www.despair.com

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» RE: Despair.com Posted by: Knowmad
Is there "one born every minute?" Guess so, if this book sells.
Posted by: monkeywrench on Feb 10, 2007 8:54 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Actually, the book is perfectly consistant with its message: its size, pretty ribbon and lack of content are the epitome of " 'selfish on the inside' while exuding helpfulness on the outside."

The slick pages are deliberate, too; they're waterproof, so that they won't absorb the tears readers are going to shed when they realize that either they cannot live up to Mr. Gitomer's faux ideals, or that they have been duped once again by a phony "guru" snake oil salesman whose pronouncements are anti-human bulls**t.

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Get real Gitomer.
Posted by: monkeywrench on Feb 10, 2007 9:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This book is yet another symptom of how the pervasive, seductive entertainment business has oozed its way into virtually every aspect of life. We are not just required to be competent at our jobs now; we are required to be actors, as well, developing happy-happy characters no more real than Pee Wee Herman (and, about as obnoxious...) We have arrived at a point in modern social "development" where appearance is reality – the ONLY reality.

This delusion has resulted in a smirking (almost a smile...), false-faced boob leading us to disaster as president, a war whose true dimensions of bloodshed, waste and brutality have been covered up for more than three years, and a mainstream media that has given up on reporting the truth for the sake of pop-culture storytelling.

And now, according to Mr. Gitomer, the same delusional, non-reality-based mindset is the way to conduct business and industry, as well. If his ideas take hold (more than they already have), stand by for the invention and manufacturing prowess of our country to tank – even worse than it already has. Mr. Gitomer doesn't understand (or, it doesn't sell books) that an economy and society aren't built on smiley-face vaporware; they are built by real people working together with real ability to solve real problems and make real progress – with GENUINE joy in the accomplishment.

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TEAM SPIRIT
Posted by: VZEQICVA on Feb 10, 2007 9:20 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Teams are the corporate order of the day. All this Managerial B.S. is in lieu of a raise. Forcing people to see things in a positive light is a waste of time, therefore money. When I was left to achieve individually and was rewarded accordingly
I didn't need cheerleading . People work for money and whatever personal satisfaction they get from it. Personal performance on the job is directly connected to salary and a feeling of being appreciated. Thanks, ANNA

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» RE: TEAM SPIRIT Posted by: Sushi
» No joke. nm Posted by: JoshuaLudd
Corporate Cheerleaders
Posted by: WyrdSister on Feb 10, 2007 9:21 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I have worked for a couple different corporations that required one to be a cheerleader for the company. Because I refused, and instead tried to focus on making the work envirnment better for the EMPLOYEE, I was fired. Not all at once, mind you... I suffered many of disciplinary actions first.

At Carlson Marketing Group my first year, Mr Kurt Carlson himself toured each of his buildings, handing out his candy canes and a copy of his book; still in the cardboard shipping box. There was such a buzz when he came walking through, shaking employees hands and greeting them with "...and what do YOU do for me?" For someone who had just started working at this company, I thought that this was ridiculous and was actually embarrassed for those falling all over themselves to shake this man's hand.

Christmas-time was my biggest point of contention with the company because of the pretentousness openly displayed. During the holiday season Carlson Marketing would have the "12 Working Days of Christmas" where each day you received a small gift at the door pretaining to that years "theme". One year the theme was "angels" and at the door I received: angel hair pasta, an angel tree ornament and an angelfood cake. Then, at the end of each week, there would be a drawing for a larger prize, the largest being two airplane tickets; which suprisingly enough only those from the Travel Department won.

For the 4 years that I worked for this company, I voiced my opinion that all of this was bullshit and I would much more appreciate something I could USE; like a gift certificate to Cub Foods or even just a turkey, so that I could feed my family. The way they over-did this season was so insulting to a single mother trying to keep a roof over her child's head and food in the refrigerator. I cannot tell you how many times I had to go to the food shelf during that time of the year, even with a "good job" with a "good company".

Because I continued my crusade for fair practice at Carlson Marketing, I was told, to my face by the head of HR, that I "did not fit" this company. I agreed; I refused to be brainwashed into a Corporate Cheerleader. Then, I started to get in trouble for things that I was asked to do by my boss. That's when I realized that they were trying to get me to quit. I abliged. I gave a three-week notice. They paid me out that day and escorted me to my car.

I do not believe in being a Corporate Cheerleader. My job was not my life and I refused to be brainwashed into thinking that it was.

I have since found my dream job. I get paid less but I love it and would not have it any other way. I now work with at-risk youth and have a purpose. I don't have to be a cheerleader for a large, rich company, but rather a cheerleader for young lives that need an adult who is consistant and caring. An adult to give them a deserving hug and tell them that they are worth all the effort and love that I have to give.

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» Good for you!!! Posted by: zooeyhall
» RE: Corporate Cheerleaders Posted by: lynned2002
"If you can fake sincerity, you've got it made!"
Posted by: karma_ran_over_dogma on Feb 10, 2007 10:12 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...old Marxist saying, as in Groucho Marx.

Meanwhile, see "The Office" on Thursday nights.

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Smiles and smiles
Posted by: whoever on Feb 10, 2007 10:16 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I find that I smile a lot at work. What I smile at are the stupidities and hypocrisies, which pop up so frequently that work is almost like a situation comedy. The reception my jokes get convinces me that most employees share this cynical/comic view of worklife--and the fact that most pop media portrayals of work also present this image is more evidence. So I smile, joke, people think--I swear--that I have a good attitude and trail clouds of happiness in my wake.

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when Wal-Mart came to Germany
Posted by: albrechtkrausse on Feb 10, 2007 10:23 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
they tried to enforce their work style of 'friendlyness' and 'group rally sessions' and it failed miserably. Not that Germans are less friendly but they are less open,friendly with strangers and are not used to the American-style of friendly sales. German customers were frighten when greeted by WalMart 'greeters' and often were angry/shocked when the clerk tried to bag their purchases (in Europe you bag your own groceries and most products so they thought that the cleark was taking them back.) The German employees hated the 'rally sessions'. Managers even HID IN THE BATHROOM to avoid the "smiling" sessions which forced them to smile and rally their employees. Workers got depressed by having to force an unnatural optimism in their work. WalMart failed miserably there and ginally sold out and left.

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» RE: when Wal-Mart came to Germany Posted by: karma_ran_over_dogma
» RE: when Wal-Mart came to Germany Posted by: albrechtkrausse
» RE: when Wal-Mart came to Germany Posted by: blitzmesser
» Piss tests Posted by: Kelly
» RE: Piss tests Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
The Motivational Consultants
Posted by: sofla100 on Feb 10, 2007 11:05 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Today, corporate consultants and "be happy" routines are all the rage but they all really are slick packaging of the same thing. Be happy, be productive, and enhance the bottom line. To accomplish this, the consultants mostly all recycle the same 1960's humanistic psychology/power of positive thinking routine. But, my question is this, does any of it really work and has it ever really been shown to improve the bottom line? That seems dubious. Yet, corporations spend tens of millions for motivational jibber-jaberring. Go figure? The ones however who seem to be really getting rich from all this are the consultants. Now, they certainly do improve their bottom line!

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» RE: The Motivational Consultants Posted by: dangerouslysane
Kim Jong Il would love this
Posted by: zooeyhall on Feb 10, 2007 11:29 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
These jackasses with their motivational bullshit-of-the-week are really thinking too small. What they really need to do is move up BIG TIME and sell their wares to some of the oppressive govts. in the world. Just think how some of the world's dicators like Bush and Kim Jong Il would love to have this pounded into their "subjects"! "Be happy---or face the firing squad!"

But as far as this goes in the current miserable state of the American work environment--well, its just another way to cover up the way the whole house of cards that is American business is about to collapse. Too bad that jerks like this author can make money off of it.

Thanks Alternet,, and thank you Barbara!!! Once again you really get to the bottom of the issue so wonderfully!

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Everyone A Salesperson?
Posted by: Red Clover on Feb 10, 2007 12:19 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
A quick trip to Gitomer's website reveals that he is a sales consultant, not a management consultant. His 4.5 beliefs for sales success:
-Belief in your company
-Belief in your products
-Belief in your service
-Belief in yourself
-Belief that when a customer buys [from you], they are better off
are necessary if valuable new accounts are to be opened and loyal new customers created. I know, having been a commissioned salesperson for years.

That being said, most employees are not salespeople (even in retail, even at the check-out counter). Most employees are makers, deliverers, administrators, and other support for a system built up around fulfilling the sale. They are problem-solvers, because all customers are different. And problem-solvers live with problems-the way things are, not belief in the way things should be. Who can fault them for a little nausea at the tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy?"

Executives of companies in crisis love the Gitomers of the world. By spreading the gospel of a joyous attitude toward work, they don't have to deal with the gritty details of problem-solving at the support level. Lip service is given to the power of individual support people to make a vital difference in how the company is operated, but anyone who has made a concerted effort to live up to this pablum knows that company leaders only endorse such when they don't have to change what THEY are doing.

I notice the same among Texas evangelicals. They are going to heaven, so do not need to pay too much attention to their personal behavior, only the un-Godly behavior of others. They gather among themselves several times each week to give thanks and pray for the unsaved. All with a plastic smile and unnatural light in their eyes.

Magical thinking is endemic in our society. Perhaps it results from America's shift from a farming and manufacturing economy to a marketing and service economy. The hand applied to the thing is replaced by Words applied to an end.

I have met a few wise and competent executives in my career. I have also met many who, though equally powerful, simply game their position for security and properity. They often dominate companies I have worked for and sold to. And they form the customer base for the Gitomers of the world who chase away the shadows of that nagging beast, the Peter Principle, who whispers, "you have risen to your level of incompetence."

Just don't rock the boat and no one will notice that we are all standing hip deep in the rising water.

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» Excellent comments Red Rover Posted by: MrWebster
CHEERLEADERS hired by Big Pharma
Posted by: albrechtkrausse on Feb 10, 2007 12:41 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
according to an interesting article in the NY Times a while back. Basically, they wanted 'perky', 'athletic', and, probably 'good looking' people to sell there drugs to doctors. Next time you visit your doctor note the Pharma Reps. Its really funny really. Obviously, attitude is a big help in any business and life in general. But there are certain jobs, mainly in the 'sales' area, where you need to sometimes force optimism and friendliness. Realtors are an amazing example of this. Although the best salespeople will be able to not fake it but, almost, brainwash themselves to 'believe' in their product. However this is no universally needed in ALL professions and also depends on the type of sales, the product, and to whom you are attempting to influence.

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Real and fake happiness at work
Posted by: Sunfell on Feb 10, 2007 12:45 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Here's something ironic: at my job, we have none of that saccharine 'cheer'. Instead, we have a deeply instilled culture of pride in our service, which is a much better thing. When we smile, it's a sincere smile- no one has to be coached. Our humor is real, our production is real, and our bottom line does not exist, because we're not in the corporate world.

Thank god. I had to work in a retail environment for five years where I swear that we were the guniea pigs for every social experiment and motivational hokum to come along. I was glad to escape from that.

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Our National Ideology: Change Your Attitude...Not the System
Posted by: CatDad on Feb 10, 2007 1:10 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Loose your high-paying union job to "free trade?" Don't have or can't afford health insurance? You need to change how you feel about that....Go to an Anthony Robbins seminar or watch Oprah...but don't you dare try to change the system...No need trying to start a union...No need to try to get the government to have universal coverage...

Memo from the government to the common citizen: You're just a Joe Schmoo nobody...We'll con both Left and Right activist in every election cycle to make you think you have a voice: We'll give you pro-lifers Terri Schaivo...but we'll keep the legal abortion machine humming along...We'll give you Lefties a dollar or so minimum wage increase (after ten years) and we'll drop student loan interests rates a few points...but that's it suckers. We are the plutocratic elite and you are nothing...deal with it and change the way you feel about it...Have a nice day.

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» Really? Explain. Posted by: JoshuaLudd
Motivation
Posted by: CriminallySane on Feb 10, 2007 2:14 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Some things just don't change.

The basic premise of every motivational book, speaker, etc., is this: Be more like me!

Note also that most of these "motivators" receive far more from their book sales than they ever did in the real world.

And still, front-line employees everywhere will treat the customers pretty much as well as they themselves are treated. That makes it very easy to spot the better outfits - the ones that treat people reasonably well. (If most work was that great, they wouldn't have to pay you to do it!)

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It doesn't sell books
Posted by: chaoslegs on Feb 10, 2007 2:37 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
But if these corporate yahoos would treat their workers with respect and dignity they would be happier. And they would be happier dealing with their customers. Granted this maybe too simple for upper management to get, treating workers with respect with pay and benefits as a start. And it won't fuel the corporate consultant circuit so you know those people won't like it.

My favorite story happened after I left Pitney Bowes Management Services, mail/copy rooms in law firms, for a better paying job with a non-profit. We were supposed to have weekly meetings (our boss was pretty cool) and keep notes. Well when one of the managers who oversees multiple sites was trying to get a new client, that manager touted these weekly meetings as a way for workplace cohesion or some other bullsh@t. Well, our boss had let the often disgruntled staff at this law firm write out the log and it was primarily a bitch session because it was the worst of 5 sites I had worked at because of some of the firm staff. Anyway the manager never had read the log and wasn't happy with the bitch session contained within. I am not sure if they ever got that client.

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» RE: It doesn't sell books Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
Fake friendlyness is intruding
Posted by: blitzmesser on Feb 10, 2007 4:27 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When I go to a store like Vons and have to deal with their employee's "friendship" I try to be deaf.
I can't stand this assault of fake friendliness.
It is fake, because employees are monitored everywhere in the particular store. It has no bearing on customer need or real friendliness on the part of the employee. It is intended to solicit purchases and that the customer return, no other reason. stujpid lmanager don't realize when it has the effect of keeping customers away. The "friendly" friendliness is performed by robots, trained to say things that make no sense most of the time.
When I ask them : why are you telling me this? They tell me that they have to! Management says so.
I stay away from stores that use that kind of training for employees, who no longer are allowed to use their own initiative, and have to act like idiots.
Most people like to do a good job if they are treated right, even if the work is not very interesting.

There is an article on my page to the left about
"Why does corporate America want to test children into thinking, sounding, and acting the same way?"
Answer: So they can become ideal employees, who will do as they are told.

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If you work at a job where you have to
Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line on Feb 10, 2007 4:45 PM   
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sell things.... its abbsolutely true that a positive and passionate attitude is going to make it a better ride. When I am not hawking my wares during the winter I work at a fancy food and wine store and we have an awful lot of fun with it... a sense of humor even... Heres what happens ... people come in in a crass and foul mood, and by the time we get done with them they leave with a beter disposition, an armful of good food and wine and the experience of learning about where their food comes from. Now obviously not every job can provide this kind of an atmosphere, but there is an awful lot to be said for being passionate and having a good attitude and working in a team environment. I have also noticed that people come to my booth at the farmers market during the summer time and when I am hamming it up and giving them a good stage show they buy more and have alot of fun doing it and most (Not all)do not grumble about waiting in line for up to ten to fifteen minutes.... So yeah even though I posted despair .com earlier as a joke I actually believe in postive thoughts and attitudes... I would not be farming otherwise.... I leave the grumbling for when I am either alone or not actively dealing with customers.... People really need to lighten up...

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» RE: If you work at a job where you have to Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line
.
Posted by: ShoShenQ on Feb 10, 2007 5:33 PM   
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Younger I worked in places where you had to be good looking and smiling all the time to do and keep your job, I had a lot of fun working in those places as people were always smiling and happy, I dont care if they were not like that all the time, we exchanged good energies while doing business and kept our problems in our minds instead of showing it.

I dont have problem with the YES mentality, nor with sad people, you're the one you're torturing really.

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I think the problem is that not everyone is built for customer service, but everyone is forced to...
Posted by: medstudgeek on Feb 11, 2007 10:36 AM   
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There's a natural range in human mood set points from negative to positive, and pessimism has its uses. (In Nazi Germany, pessimistic Jews went into exile and optimistic Jews wound up dead.) But as more and more jobs require customer contact, more and more people have to act positive who aren't cut out for it.

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In Defence of Cynicism:
Posted by: felixcommi on Feb 11, 2007 3:47 PM   
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The Cynic is the hardest working person...they do not tire to explore the ways in which a workplace dehumanizes, oppresses, and mistreats people....The Cynic does not shut their eyes to the fact that there is no democracy in a capitalist workplace and that poverty wages will have deletrious effects on communities, let alone indviduals

....what is so offensive about this "positivist" literature is that it posits pretension and ignorance as a cure to social ills...goddmanit, how can you advocate a social program whereby its acceptable that only a few happy (and objectively ruthless) people get aboard the liferafts and everyone else can happily fester away in misery...at the end of the its a competition and only a few can win....its just so sick and twisted....morally base....corrupt...inhuman...defenders of this non-sense should feel so much shame

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» RE: In Defence of Cynicism: Posted by: DaBear
Every time...
Posted by: Boomerang on Feb 11, 2007 4:37 PM   
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Every time I see an article by Barbara Ehrenreich I want to retch. Why does anyone listen to your idiotic nonsense again? Is there any aspect of having to work for a living that you won't complain about?

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» Wretch Posted by: YogiBear
» RE: very time... Posted by: DaBear
» Remember when Posted by: grailsnail
You smile while I do your work for you
Posted by: YogiBear on Feb 11, 2007 5:32 PM   
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Gitomer is the reason some people take guns to work.

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Be like Spongebob, not Squidward
Posted by: Torgo on Feb 11, 2007 9:46 PM   
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"Robert" versus "Squiddy"

If The Hash-Slinging Slasher had really come to "wreak his horrible vengeance" upon both employees of the Krusty Krab, who would have lived a happier (and dare I say better) life?

I saw this scene from Squid on Strike just last night and laughed my ass off.

Squidward: OK, pay careful attention, SpongeBob. Now we're gonna make picket signs. This is a very important part of striking.
SpongeBob: Like this, Squidward? (Shows a picket fence on a board.)
Squidward: Not a picket fence, you ding-dong! Picket sign!
SpongeBob: How's this? (Shows a sign with an image of a finger picking a nose.)
Squidward: No. This is a picket sign. (Points) 'Krusty Krab Unfair'. Short, sweet, and to the point.
SpongeBob: How's this, Squidward? (Shows a 'Krusty Krab Funfair'` sign)
Squidward: SpongeBob! It's unfair, not funfair!
Citizen: A funfair? Where? I could go for some fun!
SpongeBob: At the Krusty Krab!
Citizen: Hey, everybody, let's go to the funfair! (Everybody steps on Squidward)
Squidward: Nobody gives a care about the fate of labor as long as they can get their instant gratification.


Like Squidward, I work for a living and work for an employer, whose investment of capital in medical technology increases my productivity immensely. Those alternet posters who whine about "the idle rich" can go off to the woods and work with their own pair of dirty hands if they truly think "the rich" or entrepreneurs in general do not contribute to increased productivity. I don't know about you, but I would not be able to build an Xray machine or an ultrasound unit with my own bare hands.

And as for "instant gratification", the majority of human Squidwards in the US have had plenty of that in their youth, by "avoiding the hard years of serious study" and pissing away their opportunities to better themselves, in favor of short-sighted pleasures. As shitty as I find the US gov't's foreign policies, the federal gov't does provide copious educational loans. (Paid for by my taxes, so I don't apologize for taking my share.) Even elite universities (like my alma mater Cornell) provide generous aid to those who have worked hard and earned it by paying their dues in the library and on the athletic field. As opposed to partying and passing out drunk on the couch, or bullying smarter students for exam answers.

It's late and I need to get to sleep. I think I'll wear my Spongebob surgical scrub top to my job that I love tomorrow, while thinking of the whiners and Squidwards of the world, who can kiss my ass while regretting their youthful myopia.

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» oh-ho-ho, a radiologist... Posted by: medstudgeek
Sponge Bob´s abilities and uniqueness
Posted by: ZPaul on Feb 11, 2007 11:21 PM   
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SpongeBob has the ability to morph into other shapes at will.
He´s also an invertebrate. Figures...

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Barbara!
Posted by: DaBear on Feb 12, 2007 9:37 AM   
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AGain, she stirkes hot: "Smiles, at least in human society, are gestures of submission, and routinely demanded of women as a token of subordinate status. The happy slave smiles; the well-trained "lady" smiles; now even the male white collar striver has to keep his lips pulled back in an expression of eager compliance. Only the top guys get to snarl and snap their way through the day."

For years I've been trying to put my finger on the visceral revulsion I experience whenever confronted with corporate 'Mer'kaan cult-ure and Barbara nails it here. It's S-L-A-V-E-R-Y!

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» No offense intended, but... Posted by: JoshuaLudd
I urge you all to read Bob Black's "The Abolition of Work."
Posted by: freebie_grabber on Feb 12, 2007 10:42 AM   
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I urge you all to read Bob Black's "The Abolition of Work."

Check it out here.

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» THANK YOU!!! Posted by: JoshuaLudd
» I think... Posted by: JoshuaLudd
moral of the story
Posted by: Fat Man at the Buffet Line on Feb 16, 2007 9:13 PM   
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work for yourself

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G