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Working in the service industry is difficult for a number of reasons. Apart from having to deal with difficult customers and work dauntingly long and hard shifts, there’s also all of the fake niceties people have to take part in—so much, in fact, that it gets ingrained into their habits.

Things like the customer voice, the polite mannerisms, and the smiling are assumed beyond their service duties, coming out with (and often freaking out) family, friends, or everyone else who might be the target of said niceties. And, most of the time, it’s anything but authentic.

The internet has been discussing this on a number of social media platforms, sharing their own stories of how much acting they have to employ during work and how much it stays with them outside work.

Check out some of these stories in the list found below. And why not vote and comment on the ones you liked!

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#1

One time I used my retail voice on a coworker and she was like, “Don’t use your customer voice on me, I know you’re dead inside like the rest of us, it’s just frightening and weird”

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Stan Chung
Stan Chung
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good thing I got out of the service industry before I became dead inside. It's rough attending to people unloading at you for their bad predicament.

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#2

The other day I asked for a table for two in my customer voice and the waitress squinted at me and I cleared my throat and said “Sorry, still in service mode” and she dropped hers and we swapped stories about our day and my boyfriend was like “You two just became two entirely different people in like .5 seconds…”

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Troux
Troux
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love that she squinted at you, clearly aware that this was a mask.

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#3

Teaching has 4 different voices. The I am the authority but still friendly voice for kids, the customer service voice for parents, the professional voice for admin, and the regular voice for trusted coworkers

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#4

The acting required in the service industry is beyond the pale. My cousin freaked out when she came to see me at work because I was all smiling and nice while helping someone who was asking inane questions and who basically forced me to walk them to the product and put it in their f!@#$%^ hand but I was nice as pie until I turned around to walk away and my demeanor changed back to normal and I muttered “what a f!@#$%^ moron” under my breath as I got back to my cousin. She just looked at me shocked and said “no wonder you’re so exhausted when you get home.”

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#5

I always got my friends and family weird out by my working voice and mannerisms. My boyfriend was always annoyed every time that I said "unfortunately" before every sentence. "Unfortunately we don't have anymore eggs in the fridge", "Unfortunately I can't go open the door for the cat right now." It took me some weeks to learn how to shut down the facade after getting home from work.

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Stan Chung
Stan Chung
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It becomes automatic, like how I dream of wiping tables and clearing the dishes in my nightmares.

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#6

When I worked in tech support I would often end up getting callers that were difficult escalated to me, wasn't my job, but my nickname was bomb squad tech because I could diffuse even the most pissed off caller. Some of the managers would tease that I pulled out my, "kindergarten teacher voice" which was, in their impression, both threatening and compassionate at the same time.

I was, and still am a master of crushing Karen's dreams of speaking with a manager.

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#7

I once went to get some lunch after a shift to the sushi place near where I used to work. After I ordered takeout, I sat next to the register and just started scrolling on my phone. Well, a couple was about to leave, they said goodbye, the people behind the register said good bye, I said goodbye. I have not heard such sincere laughter from anyone but those people working in the sushi place

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#8

I work in construction and I don't deal with customers every day but I do most days and when we get a new guy hired on it's always funny to see them hear my professional voice for the first time. I have a southern accent and cuss quite a bit but when I deal with a customer I'm completely professional. No cussing. Very knowledgeable about any question they ask. Southern accent gone. Everything professional and they usually look at me like they saw a ghost or the living representation of schizophrenia or something. They lose it because they've usually spent 3 days hanging out with this kinda redneck beer drinking southern dude and then at the drop of a hat I turn into the most professional well rounded person you could deal with.

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Stan Chung
Stan Chung
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The clientele voice. I'll admit I'll try to sound more 'English' when there's a Caucasian exec/client around. Otherwise i'll no doubt be in my more comfortable 'Manglish'.

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#9

I get a Southern drawl! I'm not from the American South. I have NO idea where it comes from. Everyone becomes 'dear' or 'honey' regardless of age and gender. I do tend to sound a bit vapid, but I investigate insurance fraud so that much is intentional. It's much easier to get the info I need if my clients think I'm dumb.

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A.M. Pierre
A.M. Pierre
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm not 100% sure if they're saying they try to sound vapid and dumb and then also affect a Southern drawl for some reasons or if they're saying Southern accent = dumb. If it's the latter, then thanks so much - you're part of the reason why 8-year-old me decided to actively change her native Southern accent since I already had realized people stereotype it as "sounding stupid." It's one of those things where I'm glad I did it but sorry I had to.

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#10

I love wearing a mask while being a waitress. None of the customers can see or hear me grumble at them and when they annoy me all they get is a blank stare. I have to answer the phone in my forced smile so many times, so I don't come across rude when people are calling in for take out at our busiest time of night.

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Troux
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Serious question: Is there a problem with ordering takeout during normal dinner hours?

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#11

I have a very gentle, soft yet articulate “helping elderly people with lunch” voice still left from my internship at a nursing home and it still breaks through when I ask my friends what they want to drink.

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#12

I’ve been a receptionist/front desk person for the majority of my jobs. It is absolutely exhausting to be kind and positive to everyone all day. Finally being able to be yourself is like taking a literal weight off of your back. The worst part is that people can be rude to you and you just have to take it.

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#13

I’ve been working in hospo so long that my stressed out face is a giant smile. My regulars that have never working in the industry are like “what are you so happy about?” The ones that do work in the industry ask me what’s wrong

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Stannous Flouride
Stannous Flouride
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As an Army medic I was trained to not let my expression reveal the severity of the traumas I was dealing with. That's fine in an emergency situation but less so in interpersonal relationships.

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#14

I used to work in over the phone tech support for BUSINESS PRINTERS... Our serial numbers had ones, lowercase Ls, and uppercase is. Also Os and zeroes.

So many times on the phone if I have to give ANY number, I without thinking go into military letter codes and hyper enunciated numbers. My mom always says "stop roboting me! I'm you mother! Talk normal!" Sorry mom, you asked me to google the address of the store you needed to go to so it's sorta on you.

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#15

A customer mocked my customer service voice today. To be fair, she looked about 19 so I can’t be too upset but it caught me so off guard lmao. My voice gets higher whenever I talk to customers so she pitched her voice up & said “thanks so much!” as she walked away. Like, if you wanted me to be rude & give you my usual monotone voice you could’ve told me

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Hermitbunny
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My voice gets higher pitched when I'm nervous or trying to match the energy of who's talking to me, I hope I don't sound like I'm mocking anyone 😬

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#16

I worked call center in a different language so the 'Actually' didn't stick with me in normal life.

But on the phone, I have to make an effort to not avoid dead air by narrating what I'm doing. There's a 3 second timer ingrained in me and I can't shake it off.

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Maul!
Maul!
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

😊 as a customer, it’s nice that you don’t leave us hanging in the unknown.

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#17

My partner and friends all say I talk in a babyish voice to customers. I sound cutesy and have a slight American accent too (I’m from Australia) especially when I answer the phone. But customers eat it up! They think I’m super nice and bubbly and must love working because I’m “so happy to be there”. What works works I guess. Really spoils the atmosphere when I put my normal voice back on and it’s much deeper and slower with no accent.

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Donna Leske
Donna Leske
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As an American I deny having an accent. Of course that rule is suspended for those of us from New Yawk, Boston, and Georgia. They can't help it.

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#18

When I first started dating my girlfriend, she answered the phone at work a lot but very rarely talked on the phone to friends and family - it was usually text or video call. Every time I called her for about 6 months I'd get her customer service voice until she started talking about something personal. It was very disconcerting.

What really freaks me out is that I have the opposite - I have a customer voice. It's always very gentle and higher pitched than my actual voice, and more expressive. I think it's because I don't want my cashier or waiter to think I'm going to yell at them.

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JuJu
JuJu
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I get the customer voice...I do the same. I smile and am super nice and gentle. When I turn around, dark clouds appear over my head, a raven lands on my shoulder and I'm my usual unsunny self :)

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#19

I work in inventory at a retail store, but I was in sales departments before that for like four years. My customer service voice is just higher and more feminine than I usually talk. But I am not feminine in the slightest, and I curse like a sailor, so it's a pretty drastic difference.

I find myself using my customer voice with my coworkers too when I'm getting annoyed, especially on the dumb walkie-talkie radios we use.

Coworker over the radio: "Who do we have in inventory right now?"

(Which is code for: Hey random inventory person, because I don't even know which of you is here right now, I need something from you.)

Me internally: I'm doing three other things by myself because everyone else is unloading a truck wtf do you want

Me out loud, high-pitched and sing-song: "This is KalicoKat, how can I help?"

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#20

I have a habit of saying thank you when people thank me. A couple of times when I would get off work I'd go to the store and at checkout I'd have the habbit of starting my greeting I do at work. I catch myself half way through and I'm just like oops still in customer service mode. Whatever clerk I see for the day gets a bit weirded out by it.

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Hooked
Hooked
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This ! This happens to me still, after I left CS about 3 years ago. I still do that !

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#21

I've heard my customer service voice and I have no idea who that lady is.

But honestly, with all the background noise, tech issues, distractions, language barriers, etc. short words in short sentences is best for everyone involved.

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WhatEvenIsLife
WhatEvenIsLife
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I had to start working from home last year, my family was fascinated by my "work voice" when I was on calls.

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#22

I’m from the South and my accent usually helps me. I also have a girlish voice and sound much younger than I am. However, from my experience, this makes the Boomer calls unnecessarily long. I don’t find that the statement “Boomers just want to get stuff done” is applicable. I get “sweetie” “honey” “darlin” etc. “How’s the weather up there?” “Well honey you sound so nice!” I had a Boomer spend 20 minutes on the phone telling me how to make the perfect ham sandwich. Since I’m in the South I get a lot of gun enthusiasts—one old man talked for 45 minutes about the different types of bullets. I’ve heard fishing stories for hours. And there’s always those good ole Boomers who say “Oh, I’m so glad to talk to a white girl!!”

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#23

My voice gets higher and I sound less accented. I'm very soft voiced and I feel like I sound like an Easter bunny down on her luck.

I hate listening to my calls because the voice grates on my nerves, but it makes other people calm down??? I can't stop doing it either lol.

My chat voice is totally different too. It comes across as very formal, polite, and librarian like.

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#24

I use my customer service voice pretty much any time I'm interacting with someone I don't know or are otherwise not chill with. I still try to have engaging conversations, but you have to get to know me before you start to hear all my bulls!@#.

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#25

i worked at six flags fright fest as one of the unsettlingly nice characters and my in-character voice basically undid years of vocal training. so, not really the same thing, but it still comes out when I deal with people I dislike

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Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I bet that was an awesome job! I always wanted to work at a haunted house for Halloween.

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