Killed me. Forgive the pun.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Yikes. It’s hard enough to find a vending machine that will take “golden dollar” coins, let alone to lug that thing around while you try and get a Sprite.

Yeah. I saw this and lost it. A true funsub meme.

Not the show. I saw the movie like- 20 years ago. But all in all, AI shares a lot with the idea of “alien life” in that we don’t esoecially know what to expect, or how to really even identify it. The subject of human intelligence still isn’t well understood and is debated in philosophy- with science more or less unable to say much beyond “I think therefore I am...”

... won on merit as much as on marketing.

You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If we force congress to work for free until a deal is struck- that may increase the odds the deal will be the one that gets them on track the fastest- and may not be best. Likewise it is harder to repeal “bad” policies than to pass them, a reason policy makers have to be cautious. They are also setting precedents that future decisions and arbitration’s. Additionally- most members of Congress make substantial income from sources other than their salaries. Much of the corruption in politics is motivated by the fact that most politicians are business people who have their own financial portfolios and their backers, and lastly constituents to tend. Cutting off their salary is more like a boss telling you you won’t get OT pay- it sucks but isn’t going to break you. If we don’t do something though, as we have seen- they won’t do their jobs. Representatives of the people who largely aren’t accountable beyond elections- which generally aren’t..

Maybe both. You have to be daft to believe that anyone who supports one politician, or one bill, or holds one view on one issue can have all their beliefs on all things predicted. That complex motivations that come from things like social background, location, life structure, etc can be summed up as simply as “they are racist..” or “they are dumb...” Some people do actually think that though. To an extent we are all guilty of it. We reduce those who disagree with us to caricatures or stereotypes. Lump up all the “liberals” or “conservatives” in one group as though every person who agrees on a matter must fall into one of these camps, and that every single one of them somehow has the same motivations and same characteristics. Doing otherwise requires that we think before we act and consider alternate views to our own. Scary stuff for many.

Yes and no. I’m sure men hating extremists would love to play on the principal alone not to mention that they get to kill men. However- pretty much any period war game allows you to kill men rampantly. I suppose that it’s no more or less valid an argument than people who point at grand theft auto games as ultimate male chauvinist fantasies that are excuses to glorify violence against women and others. That is to say- while there may be some validity and pocket cases of people playing for those reasons- mostly I dismiss such observations as there is nothing inherently core to the idea. The fact that you CAN view it in such light if you choose does not make that its nature. The concept of An immunity or plot device only effecting one sex is a well worn trope. It’s also established by many medications or steroids that such substances can impact men and women very differently so it isn’t reaching too far in premise.

But by and large many retail workers are not skilled professionals. They don’t know their product and business well much of the time. Many don’t care about the job at all or the customer beyond the basic guidelines or scripts set out to them for dealing with customers. Most do not have any support from their management because their management are just pimps. They don’t care what you the worker on the street suffer through to get them their money, so long as you do it. Many retail workers are young, inexperienced, or unskilled. Coupled with a lack of support, this makes them less likely to assert authority, and if they do- more likely to do so unprofessionally in a way that might get them in trouble. But it can be done.

The “price wars” have seen many sectors whoring themselves out. Who can give the lowest price? By and large that has not worked out well. A customer who shops on price will simply buy from whoever has the lowest price. There is no loyalty- and service isn’t a factor. IKEA is a perfect example. Long lines, huge phone waits, DIY everything. Cheap prices on cheap shit. Costco, etc. They know you’ll be back because you are shopping there. You’re a price whore yourself you see. You’ll degrade yourself to great ends for those extra dollars, and so they know they don’t have to cater to you- just offer you $1 cinnamon buns and a $15 desk.

You also help customers that way. Most Everything we do in life has a purpose. However most of the time people bump around as though they don’t even comprehend the purpose of why they are doing what they are doing. A business transaction is as straightforward as it gets. Two people making a naturally beneficial exchange. Make it clear what the customer is gettin and what they are giving in return, and both parties make their expectations and it’s up to the other to fill those to their best abilities. If those conditions are not met- there is no deal. Why would you make a deal you didn’t want to make? That is an expectation of the customer. At some point in the transaction they have a personal responsibility for their actions.

Any professional- even a CEO occasionally encounters people who may treat them poorly and may be in a position to do so without reprisal. Anyone can take a bad situation and make it worse, a skilled professional takes a bad situation and gets the closest to optimal outcome from it. Part of helping people is... helping people. That means not being tied up by bullshit. You want to vent? Pay a shrink. That is their profession and what they offer. I offer whatever it is the company sells. I will help you get what you need and on your way, so I can help the next person. If you want to help someone tomorrow- you must be in business tomorrow. You stay in business by being mindful of your profits.

Those are the three main rules. There are more. But one can be polite, professional, and direct. You have the money, I have what you want. You can likely get what you want somewhere else, I can likely get money from someone else. One of us is a professional at doing this, one of us isn’t. You don’t go to someone else to get something if you could more easily provide it yourself. So the retail professional is in the position of authority IF they make sure to politely assert and hold that authority. You are not a robot or a dog or a child. You’re a professional at work. If you act like the first 3, many will treat you like the first 3. Act like the last one, many will treat you like the last one. Some won’t. That’s life.

3. I might not actually want YOU as a customer. I’m here for money. That’s what businesses are. You’re here to solve a problem. You likely aren’t very concerned with wether I am happy with the transaction- just that your problem is solved to your satisfaction. But this IS a business deal. I’m not a truck stop skank that will do anything for a dollar or your approval. The way I make money is by helping people solve problems. You don’t have to be nice, polite, anything else. But the moment that your presence costs me more money than it makes me- you are not making me money you are costing me money, so why would I want to do business with you?

1. You aren’t a customer if you aren’t buying. Give me money. That is why I am here, not because I love this so much I’d do it for free. The owner opened business for money, I took the job for money, we sell things. So any “customer” speech you want to give me: if you don’t buy from me you aren’t my customer. Take your “Amazon blah blah” to Amazon.
2. Provided you meet #1, you’re a customer. I value you. Just like all my other customers. You are not the only one. I value ALL of you. That means the person behind you in lines time is as valuable to me as yours, and I won’t waste his any more than I would waste yours. You came here for something. We will accomplish that together if it’s in the scope of our power. I will get the information I need to do my job. You’re paying money to have someone solve a problem for you. That’s what retail is. Why did you come to me if that isn’t what you wanted?

I presently don’t. But I used to. I’ve done wholesale, retail, and internal sales, long before that I’ve done “clerk” type retail service, and I’ve had several support type jobs in my life. There is seldom of ever a good reason why a customer should have a better knowledge of your product, supply chain, or location than you do. This is doubly so in any technical field like machines, chemicals, electronics, etc. In a consumer goods retail situation, you should still have basic product knowledge of whatever lines you carry. But the rules are simple.

@granlobomalo- someday your prince will come. Until then- I hope to be a fair cyber stand in. I’m old too- but old enough that I know you’re never too old. I might not get every meme, and when someone posts a “remember this from your childhood....” of something you were out of college for already, I always chuckle and scoff a bit. The world needs old folks. These kids will set the stage for where we are going as a society, but they weren’t alive to see where we’ve already been. There is much we can teach each other, and if us old farts sequester ourselves to our peer groups we deny them the perspective we offer and deny ourselves what they can show us. We become time capsules living in a sealed bubble of a past that’s just a shared memory. So please don’t be down GLM- the world keeps turning and we’ve made it through worse. You’ve got this.