Rant: I spent 2 years being a pushover at the DMV counter

I worked the customer service desk at the DMV in Austin for two years and thought being nice meant saying yes to everyone. A lady came in with no ID, no forms, just a story about her dog eating her license. I was about to bend the rules again when my coworker Frank stepped in and told her flat out she needed proper docs. He got screamed at for 5 minutes but held his ground. That's when it hit me - I was just rewarding bad behavior and making my job harder. Anyone else realize they were being too soft on customers for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_kim4d ago

Man, Frank sounds like the real MVP. I worked retail for three years and I was the same way... always caving to customers who yelled the loudest. It took me getting written up once for a return I shouldn't have approved to realize being nice doesn't mean being a doormat. The worst part is those people don't even appreciate it, they just learn that throwing a fit works every time. You end up burning yourself out for no real reason, and management sure isn't going to back you up.

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spencer_bell3d ago

I saw this psychology thing once that said when you give in to a tantrum, you're basically training the person to keep doing it... like training a dog or something. It's wild how true that is with customers, they learn real quick who the pushovers are.