do you really want to fill your own gastank?

[rodeodance]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/09/opinion/09fox.html?th&emc=th

April 9, 2005
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Volunteer Workers of the World, Unite
By NICOLS FOX

Bass Harbor, Me. — IT began in the 1970's. Or at least that's when I became conscious of it. People began cleaning up after themselves in fast-food restaurants. I had been living abroad and didn't know about such things, but my children, faster to pick up on American cultural expectations, made sure I took back my tray and put my trash in the appropriate bin.

Cleverly, the restaurants made this choice not only easy but gratifying. Customers were given the sense of being good citizens or helping out the teenage minimum-wage workers who wiped off the tables.

I was never fooled. I knew what was going on. We were doing the restaurant's work and if we didn't we felt guilty. My children would shrink into their coats while people stared disapprovingly if I tried to abandon a cluttered table.

In fact, it was a manifestation of the Great Labor Transfer. Companies that had already applied every possible efficiency to their businesses were looking for other ways to cut costs and saw an entirely new pool of workers who didn't have to be paid. Call them consumers.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. That is the one thing I could never do..I cannot stomach the smell of

gasoline. However, I see no shame in cleaning up after myself in a restaurant. ........or for that matter, picking up my dog's poop!!!!
Why should it be a problem to maintain the spaces that we share with other people?
This is the same "I don't give a shit" attitude I see reflected when I see people throwing candy wrappers on the sidewalk as they walk along, or whole bags of McDonald's garbage out their car windows as they drive along a highway.
I wish I could pick it up and throw it back in their car and ask them if they do that in their living room.
EDIT: There was a similar situation in the coffee room at my office. Some people acted as if they had the right to drink the coffee, but had no responsibility to clean up after themselves, or make a pot of coffe if they took the last cup.
Someone - it wasn't me, I wish I had thought of it- finally put up a sign that said - YOUR MOTHER DOES NOT WORK HERE, SO YOU MUST CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF!

[rodeodance]

3. no, that is not his point-read the rest of the article

[BrklynLiberal]

4. oooops. Sorry. You know what happens when one assumes.

:hide: /embarrassed/

You know what Roseanne Roseannadanna's Father always said.."Never mind".

[Warpy]

6. This is the operative paragraph

"In fact, it was a manifestation of the Great Labor Transfer. Companies that had already applied every possible efficiency to their businesses were looking for other ways to cut costs and saw an entirely new pool of workers who didn't have to be paid. Call them consumers."

Every time you bus your table in a food court, think of a retarded person who could have had the job. Every time you bag your own groceries, think of the high school kid who could be doing it. Every time you use an automated checkout or an ATM, think of the person who used to be paid to do that job.

Yes, the jobs were boring and unfulfilling, but they paid wages that supported real human beings.

And THAT is the point.

[ikojo]

9. Um...it's not only high school kids who work as baggers.

I've seen fair number of adults, middle aged and elderly, bagging groceries. Please do not feed into the argument that the jobs being lost are those being done by kids who don't "really" need the money (although in my case anytime I had a job as a teen the money I earned was needed to help my mom out).

[Igel]

2. I feel uncomfortable--sometimes vaguely, sometimes acutely--

having people be my servants unless I can't avoid it. I don't even much like waiters. I'd rather pump my own gas. I'm still vaguely uncomfortable with having baggers at the local grocery store.

I'd rather do what I can myself, if practicable (this does not mean go in back and load the dishwasher at a restaurant).

[patricia92243]

5. Exactly.

[MissWaverly]

7. I miss the guy at the service station

This was on a Sunday afternoon. When I pulled up at the service station there was just 1 guy standing there talking on a cell phone. When I went in to pay, suddenly he showed up in line behind me with 2 large friends to buy cigarettes. I immediately ran out to my car and threw my purse in first. When I got into my car, I saw that the straps on my purse had been cut through (which they did while they were standing behind me. I also miss having the service guy check my tires, or handle a mechanical question I had, or a flat. Of course, we all know that the oil companies are not making record profits and that these cutbacks really save money.

[ikojo]

8. Now grocery stores are trying to encourage people

to not only check out their own groceries but to bag them as well. I try to educate people I'm with about the loss of union jobs that provide benefits and a living wage, but most say that it's quicker than waiting in line. They also comment about surly checkers and their wish to avoid people who give the impression of not wanting to be there in the first place.

I will stand in line because why should I do all of the work with no subsequent drop in grocery prices? The Schnucks and Dierbergs families in St Louis are wealthy enough thank you very much.

[Indykatie]

10. Lack Of Office Support Too

Companies are also embracing a self serve mentality in office jobs. Entire legions of Human REsources staff have been eliminated because employees have to complete all their HR related matters on line. Same approach is being made for clerical support. At my company managers and directors are now expected to do support their own clerical needs.