What kind of an asshole insults a mans music?
What kind of an upbringing leads you to go into a independant retail store and say to the clerk without provocation
"excuse me but what is this CRAP you're listening to?"
No, I will not excuse you, sir. You are rude and uncultured and ignorant and you don't deserve an answer. (By the way, the music was the Scissor Sisters, the dancinest band in the world who top the critics list of last year. What's NOT to love?)
What exactly am I supposed to say to that? "You're right! What was I thinking? All these years I really liked this band, but now you've suddenly shown me that it is total crap because you, a middle-aged soccer mom, doesn't think it fits in with your Billy Joel greatest hits."
"Yea, it is crap! I don't know why I put it on in the first place."
"I know right?? This band totally sucks I can't believe anyone likes them. Let me go ask the mysterious Phantom who put it on why he likes such shitty music"
To ask such a question as that already implies that you know full well that the person you're asking is the person who personally chose to put the music on and obviously enjoys it. You're telling that person in other words that you think their taste in music is awful and that you have the right to openly insult it and the clerk.
Were people raised with absolutely no manners at all? I mean come on! If you don't like the music you're hearing in a store, even if you were to choose to comment politely that it isn't your "style" or that the lyrics offend you, you don't outright insult a person and their music in a store.
This happened to me just tonight and I felt inspired to write about it but I won't make this an ultra lengthy post detailing our history with customers who hate our "music" choices, but here are some classic comments:
"Is this Music To Kill Yourself By or what? It's really awful, huh?"
"I would rather run into a knife than listen to this"
"Is this what they call music?"
"This is the worst music I've ever heard in my life"
"Hey what band is this? Ok then I'll know what to stay away from"
"Hey what band is this? Really? It's really bad, huh?" They always ask it as if you'll agree
I wish I could remember all of them but I can't because there have been so many. One time Drew and I got in a "fight" with a customer about some extremely rude and uncalled for remarks he was making about the beautiful music of Yann Tiersen, the genius who is responsible for the magnificence of the soundtrack for Amelie. I don't quite remember what he said, but he actually wrote a letter to Paul about it and the way WE treated HIM because of it. Obviously he has no heart or soul.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??
-Jordan
"excuse me but what is this CRAP you're listening to?"
No, I will not excuse you, sir. You are rude and uncultured and ignorant and you don't deserve an answer. (By the way, the music was the Scissor Sisters, the dancinest band in the world who top the critics list of last year. What's NOT to love?)
What exactly am I supposed to say to that? "You're right! What was I thinking? All these years I really liked this band, but now you've suddenly shown me that it is total crap because you, a middle-aged soccer mom, doesn't think it fits in with your Billy Joel greatest hits."
"Yea, it is crap! I don't know why I put it on in the first place."
"I know right?? This band totally sucks I can't believe anyone likes them. Let me go ask the mysterious Phantom who put it on why he likes such shitty music"
To ask such a question as that already implies that you know full well that the person you're asking is the person who personally chose to put the music on and obviously enjoys it. You're telling that person in other words that you think their taste in music is awful and that you have the right to openly insult it and the clerk.
Were people raised with absolutely no manners at all? I mean come on! If you don't like the music you're hearing in a store, even if you were to choose to comment politely that it isn't your "style" or that the lyrics offend you, you don't outright insult a person and their music in a store.
This happened to me just tonight and I felt inspired to write about it but I won't make this an ultra lengthy post detailing our history with customers who hate our "music" choices, but here are some classic comments:
"Is this Music To Kill Yourself By or what? It's really awful, huh?"
"I would rather run into a knife than listen to this"
"Is this what they call music?"
"This is the worst music I've ever heard in my life"
"Hey what band is this? Ok then I'll know what to stay away from"
"Hey what band is this? Really? It's really bad, huh?" They always ask it as if you'll agree
I wish I could remember all of them but I can't because there have been so many. One time Drew and I got in a "fight" with a customer about some extremely rude and uncalled for remarks he was making about the beautiful music of Yann Tiersen, the genius who is responsible for the magnificence of the soundtrack for Amelie. I don't quite remember what he said, but he actually wrote a letter to Paul about it and the way WE treated HIM because of it. Obviously he has no heart or soul.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE??
-Jordan
posted by Jordan @ 8:17 PM
12 Comments:
At 6:31 AM,
MFB said…
OK, I absolute cannot understand this behavior at all. I think the best part is that you were listening to Scissor Sisters and the Amelie score, which any even remotely-hip soccer mom would already be playing in her fucking Caravan. I mean, Scissor Sisters were on SNL last year and my dad totally dug them...he's nearing sixty and hasn't really bought a record since the Nixon administration. They sound like fucking Elton John. Are you fucking kidding me? And the Amelie score? Dude, I will bet MONEY that my grandparents would go for that. Its so delightfully pleasant. Now sometimes I would play some pretty bogus shit when I worked at a video store just to piss people off, but you know, a lot of times they liked it. Now, do you have any stories of people being like "I totally dig this, what band is this?" cuz I got that a lot. Then again, I didn't live in a mutant backwater. I mean, Connectitcut. I just watched Far From Heaven again - man, you people are fucked up.
At 10:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
Yea actually we have one specific customer who, everytime i see her inside or outside the store, talks about how she has been introduced to a bunch of great music because of what we expose her to in the store. And I think if you can help just one person - just ONE - then it makes it all worth it.
And we get other people too. When we had awesome posters up for our awesome radio show customers were excited to know that we'd be playing the same music they enjoyed at Media Wave over the far reaching radio waves of Fairfield University Radio.
We've definately had people pleased or excited or aroused with our music, but unfortunately I think the mean comments far outweight the nice ones.
Now, don't get me wrong... while it's still rude and absolutely uncalled for to insult someones music choice at all, especially someone who has unlimited access to your phone number, address, drivers lisence and credit card information, it's not QUITE as band when Drew is playing his bleep-boop-bleepy sometimes jarring german "dance" music, and he also has a notorious lack of concern for bad language on an album
But lets face it - we make an effort to play stuff that anyone can enjoy and that contains nothing offensive.
People are just dicks. I guess that bumper sticker "DONT BE A DICK" really was necessary all along. We should get that and put it on the counter next to the register along with out "IF YOU'RE TALKING ON YOUR CELL PHONE YOU'RE NOT BEING HELPED BY ME, ASSHOLE" sign which is another story all together
At 12:44 PM,
Anonymous said…
I think the assholes here are the rude "sales clerks" who have forgotten that the customer's patronage is what pays your damn salary. Get a grip, try saying :I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you instead of your current way of handling it... which by the way drives the people who make it possible for you to have a job away. You'll have plenty of time to listen to "your choice of music after you are fired or out of business!
At 1:18 PM,
Jordan said…
whoever the hell is this is missing the entire point. I'm not talking about sales clerk/customer relations, i'm talking about the inexcusible rudeness of people in general. You can't really undersatnd it until you work retail. This principle shows through all aspects of the job, not just what music we play. I don't care if someone wants me to turn the music off... I play stuff I think anyone will enjoy, but if they don't I don't care. I am only offended when the customer is OFFENSIVE. They CHOOSE to be offensive about it. I've never seen anything quite like it. I understand that the customer supports the store and therefore my job, I dont need a lesson in that. And that's why I don't look at these rude people and say "What the fuck is your problem" like i want to. To go out of yuor way to find creatively rude things to personally offend someones taste is not the right of the customer. I fucking hate when people leave anonymous comments. Are you one of these rude customers?
Have you ever heard someone ask you "would you do that in your own house?". It applies here. Would you choose to insult someones clothes? If you would then you're just an asshole, like I said.
This isn't about retail, this is about respect for your fellow human beings. The crimes against humanity that happen within the store astound me every day. People loose all sense of reason and normal brain functions, they suddenly think its ok to be as rude as they can be because they don't have to respect you. It's just like with cell phones.
Look, asshole, rude is rude. Bottom line.
-Jordan
At 2:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
I glad you recognize rude - since you do it so well. And since when is asking someone to turn down blaring music in a retail setting rude? What ever happened to customer service? And why do I want to be anonymous? Well you already pointed out that you have credit card and personal information.... so I would be crazy to let you know who I am.
At 11:14 PM,
Jordan said…
um, I'm not saying it's rude to tell someone to turn their "blaring" music down in a retail store. again, whoever you are, you're missing the point. A. the music isn't blaring and B. no one has ever ever once asked to turn the music down, especially for its volume. They only make RUDE remarks about it, off handed bullshit that is definately insulting.
I don't need to know who you are I jsut want to know if you are an actual customer or someone who had this problem with us, or whether you're just some dickweed who decided that customer service=loosing your dignity to any fucker who wants to take it from you.
At 11:11 AM,
Unknown said…
To the spineless, faceless creep who seems hell bent on not only insulting our music or our clerk-dom: shut the fuck up.
Yeah, you heard me.
Also, I have eight inches of dangling pleasure between my legs and if you'd like to pony up to that, lips pursed, well, feel free.
We may be sarcastic bastards but we would never use your credit card information in a nefarious way. Sure, over the years we've bought several things using customers' credit cards, namely a 72-foot yacht that Jordan and I like to vacation on, but never in a nefarious way.
Also: how about the customer's job of shutting the fuck up. Do you walk into Abercrombie & Fitch and tell the 18 year old hooch to turn out the BLARING, AWFUL music? No. You stand there and pick out your jeans in silence. You should do the same at our store, except the music is really good and you aren't buying jeans. You're renting "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants." You pussy.
Drew.
At 9:19 PM,
Jordan said…
OK seriously though, new shit has come to light recently and I'd like to set things straight.
Speaking on a personal note, I have no problem with a customer asking us to turn the music down or off because we are trying to create an environment which is comfortable for them to rent and spend money in. Oddly enough, that is one of the goals in the music we put on. Do you think our boss would really like us play anythign we want? I like metallica, I like crazy trash garage rock, i like squeling saxophones and all sorts of stuff that I consider great but would never play at the store.
What I and all the other clerks at the store have a problem with is when someone is being insulting. Again, this has nothing to do with customer service. Sometimes we put on PG movies on in the store and they have 2 swear words in them we werent aware of. The movie is PG, so there really wasn't any fault involved, we just either take the movie off or if someone is offended we apologize. We don't insult customers and they should not insult us. I understand that in retail the customer is most important. The fact is the music we play is understood by the employees to be OK for anyone. We can't tell what peoples tastes are and if they happen to have a problem with it thats fine and they can say so, but more often than not they have no "problem" with the music and they spend a lot of time, hours even, in the store listenign to the music. Then when they get to the register they think they're really clever by insulting us loud enough so other customers can hear it and agree that we have no taste in music.
I was in Subway today and they had this AWFUL radio station on that was playing horribly bad pop crap that I can't stand and you couldn't pay me to listen to (ok, you could). Did I tell the sandwich artists that they listen to crap and I want to kill myself? NO. Because I HAVE RESPECT FOR MY FELLOW MAN. Theres a deli I go to where the workers play music what they enjoy which happens to be mexican music, others play indian music. I like some of it, i don't like some of it. I DON'T INSULT THEM. I have tolerance enough not to let it bother me at all.
Maybe, no.. definately, I am the only person who feels that way. Certain situations end up with different results, but speaking personally I play music that I like to work to that I think other people like too. In fact otehr people tell me they do and many many many people enjoy it. The mean people stick out in my mind. But above all, despite my natural instincts to do so, I am never rude. If anything I have a clever retort, but nothing more. I literally did say what I said I said in my original post
"No, I will not excuse you, that's insulting". And the customer immediately apologized. I didn't ask for an apology, I wasn't rude and I continued serving them in the best way I could. But he realized he was being rude for no reason and apologized. He felt like a real ass too, I could tell.
I look foward to your response
-Jordan
At 11:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
After reviewing the previous information, I have to come to a verdict on the situation. Anonymous customer, you need to double check your perscription of smart pills. You should come to the conclusion of checking yourself into some kind of clinic, because you are a stubborn piece of turd on the bottom of scum. You don't insult someone elses anything, because would you want the same treatment back? No. And have you ever worked at Media Wave. No. Take it from a person who has worked at Media Wave and who has been in customer service for all the jobs he has worked. There are a lot of stupid people in the world. And you, my anonymous jerkoff, rock out in the top percentile. You should take the time to appologize to the kind men of Media Wave, for they do deal with customers like you.
At 1:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
I think what we can all chalk this whole ordeal up to is the employee/customer dichotomy all to prevalent in Fairfield county. Too many people in that particular area of the country/world believe that because they have money, they rule. They all too frequently forget that their money is paying for a valuable service, and if they are so offended, they are free to spend it at the local Blockbuster (filled with a completely different kind of “offensive” music (I am talking about you Lindsay Lohan)). They also forget that they are simply in a store for a matter of minutes. They do not have to exist there for any specific amount of time. Let us examine for a moment to possibility of a store that caters to the individual needs of every customer, ensuring the utmost comfort in everything from temperature, the decor, even music. In addition to being a huge waste of time, space, energy, and life, this would feed even more grossly into the ongoing “diva” trend this nation/society/whatever is experiencing. I have worked in customer service for just short of 10 years and I have come to find that people today feel like any minor uncomfort is not only worth my time, but should also be remedied immediately. What kind of society are we living in where it is acceptable to throw a temper tantrum because you do not like the music currently being played in a privately owned establishment that you chose to enter at your own will?
In addition, I would just like to point out the very elemental language and grammar used by this anonymous diva and compare it to the witty retorts written on this page (specifically the use of the word nefarious by Zombie Drew). Is it possible that the music of the Scissor Sisters stimulates brain activity? Is it not equally as possible that blind consumerism not only directly leads to an increase in the asshole factor, but also reverts some to pre-teen grammar and misuse of the ellipsis?
At 12:53 AM,
Anonymous said…
BRAVO "a friend"!! You have succinctly and eloquently managed to get across almost exactly what I would have said.
I believe the current posts from the acrid "anonymous" were the direct result of my interaction with her on Saturday October 29. I am also an employee at Media Wave and was working alone in the busy store when she carelessly chose her words. I do know her name/address and would love to release it to the masses, so that her house may then subsequently be vandalized night after night, for the next 12 years. However, I inherently possess more viture, dignity and self-respect in my little toe than she does in her Entire Engorged, Overindulgent, Disproportionate body. Needless to say, I would never perpetrate such an egregious act of revenge.
My reason can not be put more simply than this: I refused to bow down to her subjective will. She was mad and threatened to take her business to Blockbuster. I invited her to do so.
If her reasons were Just, Truthful and Logical then I would have deferred to those values. They were not. If we begin to submit to each and every customer's assertion of subjective will, then eventually the store would have to remove every movie that anyone considers offensive. Personally -- Big Bird offends me the most!
BY THE WAY --- If anyone would like to listen to the aforementioned offensive music from Saturday, here is the name:
Vince Mendoza -- "Epiphany" (with the London Symphony Orchestra) available on Zebra Acoustic Records
or come by the store -- I WILL play it again!!
At 9:06 PM,
Anonymous said…
Thanks Kevin - Guardian of Truth and Justice.
Anyone wanna bet anonymous is a republican?
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