[National chain department store] in Manassas Mall needs a lesson in how to treat employees

[algia]

Right on the money....you should see a German department store around Christmas, each department store has the most beautiful Xmas trees at the entrances (almost as if they compete) and everyone working there is just so nice, (all the time, not just on holidays) and that is genuinely nice, not fake! and they are also not pushy, usually people have some idea as to why they went to a shoe store and don't need to be asked a thousand times if they need something! the "car salesmen" mentality is what kills shopping here. & yes, employers there are much more aware of the importance of "employees" than they are here; here in the US, "employees" are nothing more than disposable paper plates, in Europe mommies and daddies get a year off and from 40% to 60% of their salary and their job is not going anywhere while they're home with the baby...of course "employees" feel cared for and want to be genuinely NICE!

I too shop online 99% of the time now, the only thing I don't is food and that's because here in FL they haven't figured this out properly yet!

THE CHAINS took the "sophistication" right OUT of America......how can you be sophisticated when you have the same store on every corner and there's no originality LEFT? part of being sophisticated IS being original! chains turned America into Storm Troopers, soon we will have beige uniforms to match our beige homes in our beige sub divisions.

Please take the time and WALK through DC one day, DuPont Circle, Massachusetts ave, Connecticut ave etc and just look at the buildings and HOW GORGEOUS they are! Not to mention "M" street...forget the stores, just look at the buildings themselves! the bridges...the cathedrals...THAT is sophisticated...and hopefully it will remain that way.

DC is one of the last cities to have SOME sophistication LEFT, but start driving south and west and you will see what I mean. It is really shameful that some people turned this country into a robots paradise, that eat the same things, dress in the same clothes and live in the same homes even tho our personalities are far from being the same!

I think doctors are highly respected amongst "themselves" only here in the US, because "the patients" are a lot less likely to respect doctors who have no understanding that some don't have health insurance at all, and some have the kind that doesn't pay for much...so, as much as I would love to respect drs here, I just can't, my dad was a doctor and his concern was the PATIENT, here, every time I go to a doctor I am seen as a bag of $$$$$$ and nothing else. & don't even get me started on dentists!

Drs here with the exception of dentists and plastic surgeons, are nothing more than people with a lot of debt to pay back...considering that soon, they too will be replaced by machines! so then they'll have 500k to pay back so they can go to work and push buttons that will most likely look like the Burger King cash register with the names on them...so any Joe can do that too without owing 500k!! THAT makes a LOT of sense indeed! Does someone remember Demolition Man? I think we are very close to become that!

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

This seems to be a peculiarly American condition due largely to our lack or sophistication. When I travel in other places, including other highly industrial countries in Western Europe or Japan (where they'll even origami wrap your purchase), retail workers are well treated and appear happy doing what they're doing. The problem is that American consumers are for the most part cheap clods who won't pay for decent service except on "special occasions". Elsewhere, just about every purchase is treated by the buyer and seller as a special occasion.

[stpickrell]

I could put in the standard rejoinder about "unemployment is higher in Europe" but that's not even true anymore.

OP, your son's job is to learn -- if he can find a job that is at least tangential to his field of study then good for him. If he is only working 5-7 hours a week then the $40/week isn't worth the abuse.

Some low-end job managers really do have it in for the "college kids." Other managers are barely making more than the folks they manage.

[FindingZen]

Thank you in advance for returning to the topic of how retail managers/supervisors in NOVA treat their employees.