I'm of the opinion that regardless of your job, you should at least put forth some modicum of effort in fulfilling your duties. Every job is important... from being a janitor to a CEO of a Fortune 500 company; obviously certain jobs are more glamorous and desirable... but that's beside the point.
The thing is, there's no excuse for doing your job poorly... but especially if you have an easy ass job. For instance:
The movie ticket-taker person: An exhaustingly simple job, free from any real stress save standing around for hours at a time. Take the tickets, tear the stub, and say "left" or "right" to direct the movie-going patrons to their respective theaters. Can't really mess that up right? Wrong. The other day, I went to go see Wanted with Anita... and our ticket taker SUCKED. Not only did he not greet us (kindly or otherwise), he struggled to tear the tickets (slowly)... and then left it to our own deductive abilities to determine which side of the theater to go to. It was rough.
Another popular variant is the fast-food cashier that not only rings your order up incorrectly, but then seems upset when they have to get the manager's authorization to rectify their mistake. The best is when you ask for extra ranch sauce and they act like it's the most arduous task ever... sauntering over two feet to the "sauce rack" (or whatever) and laboriously selecting the requested flavor packets before disdainfully slamming them down on your tray.
"Will that be all?" they ask. Yes. That is all. THANKS.
Reading over this post... it sure seems like a bitter bitch fest... so sorry about that. It's also my first post in over two weeks (whoops). But happy Independence Day for us Americans! Woohoo!
it has been way too long since i have heard from you! i was stalking you via blog because derek never updates his and when he does he only talks about sports. ANYWAY i used to think the same things about the ridiculousness of fast food workers UNTIL i came to russia.... it is so much worse! for example, when living in a dorm or a hotel it is required of you to deposit your key every time you leave and then ask for it when you come back. these people sit around all day and all they have to do is match numbers. YET when you come in they are always smoking or watching tv or talking on the phone or something and act like its the biggest chore in the world to get a key out of a drawer. AND many times they mess it up and say they don't have it? and then get mad when you tell them to look. this is just one of many examples of worthless jobs. also there are escalator monitors on the metro as well as people who bus tables at mcdonalds. and in museums there is an old lady "on guard" like every 5 feet doing sudoku. and you have to pay for sauce. it's tragic. what i wouldnt give for some american food!!! anyway i miss hanging out in atx with everyone and i hope you are doing well! :)