25 People Share Stories of Faked Niceties From Their Work in The Service Industry
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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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”
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.
I recently walked into a clothing store and saw a manager with a woman who transitioned, three teenagers entered and the whole exchange left me feeling warm. The woman was very chatty but you can tell it’s because she’s excited and sometimes it’s easier to talk to strangers. The teens were so polite and patiently waited for the other woman customer to leave before asking to be rung up, they also commended the manager. You may be dead inside and tired, but everyone please muster up just a bit of human decency for each other and yourself. Don’t feed the negativity,!it spreads.
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…”
It’s not exactly a mask or someone being fake, just a script expected of someone when they step into a role. It’s the subservience mixed with the saccharine (and pained and tired eyes) that gives it away.
Load More Replies...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
as a PE teacher, I'd like to add a fifth: The outside coach's voice that can be heard clear across a playground!
Yep! I'm a volunteer coordinator in a children's theater. I have my different voices for preschoolers, elementary schoolers, middle schoolers, and high schoolers. I have different voices for lost patrons, volunteers I like, volunteers who are new, grandparents, delivery drivers, and coworkers. Once, a patron noticed me swap between roughly six different voices in less than two minutes and complimented me. I used to hate it when my spouse would show up for a surprise visit because I just couldn't handle adding one more voice -- even though that voice is "mine."
I saw a T-shirt that said, "Don't make me use my teacher voice!" which is so true. It's so different from my 'normal' speaking voice. I sometimes wonder what family and friends would say if they sat in on a class or two while I was teaching. ;)
This is funny. But as a teacher I have just the two. One for kids and one for the adults.
On another note, I had taught English in Japan for many years. Most the local male teachers I worked with had a samurai voice that only came out when they were mad at the kids. It was so bad ass
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.”
😕 sad to know that my questions have probably been bothering the person who came to me saying “How May I help you” in the first place.
I think it's probably just the stupid people who want everything handed to them because they're too lazy to go off of what the employee told them when they asked originally...
Load More Replies...I had to get out of retail due to being constantly exhausted from the 'Hello, How may I help you today please?' upbeat acting I had to do despite being horrendously depressed. That and the crappy wages, no career progression, lack of recognition by the company, lack of care by the company for their employees etc.
I work in a call center. Thank the phone gods for the mute button is all I’ll say
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.
It becomes automatic, like how I dream of wiping tables and clearing the dishes in my nightmares.
I used to type in my dreams. It was exhausting!!!
Load More Replies...should've ended with "Unfortunately, it took me some weeks to learn how to shut down the facade after getting home from work."
I end up saying "I understand how that can be frustrating" all the time
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.
I used this tactic while raidleading random groups (called PUGS) in World of Warcraft. My guildmates would laugh all the time since they all knew that I really wanted to scream and was sooo not a patient person. The more my tone sounded like it was mean for younger and younger students, they knew ppl were in trouble. (Im a high school math teacher by trade.)
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
Yes, but if it is a very big and crowded place and you're the only customer being polite, you just sound weird.
Load More Replies...I used to work at a cafe and would sit at a table by the door to eat on my lunch break. (Not because I wanted to be by the door, it just had nice, high chairs!) I had to refrain from greeting people when they walked in because I realized that I just looked like an overly-friendly customer!
Welll in my country it would be quite normal to say hello or goodbye to whole room
Happens to me. And the urge to help people finding out some sh*t on the supermarket shelves while this is none of my business (librarian here).
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.
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'.
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.
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.
Sadly, if you have a 'drawl' - from wherever - you will be judged. The same goes for here in the UK ; if you have a strong Liverpudlian (Liverpool), Geordie (Newcastle) or Mancunian (Manchester) accent, people will have stereotyped you as soon as you start to talk.
Load More Replies...This is offensive. I have lived in the south my entire life and do have an accent. I am an intelligent person with degrees. Just because someone speaks with an accent does not mean they are dumb!!
Exactly what I was thinking. So they are saying they only approach people they think are "dumber" than themselves? Sounds like a personal problem. Two of my "Red neck" family members work for NASA, two are published authors, and two are college professors. Maybe everyone shouldn't be so quick to judge.
Load More Replies...I'm an RN with an intimidating appearance, and I tend to speak in complete, precise sentences. When dealing with patients and their families, I take on a little bit of drawl to help put them at ease.
Calling everyone a pet name can be a lifesaver in a fast-paced customer service industry. When I worked in food service, I alternated between "honey," "hun," "darling," "dear," "love," "my friend," and even "mate" for a spell. Thank heavens I worked in retro diners and dive bars (and looked femme and nonthreatening) where I could get away with it.
My dad has a REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY thick Romanian accent and a lot of times people can't understand him. On top of that, he has very slight anger issues, so if he's on the phone with customer service he usually will start yelling. I feel bad for him, and for all the people he blew up at for no reason. I have called him a male Karen before... he doesn't care lol.
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.
Serious question: Is there a problem with ordering takeout during normal dinner hours?
Normally there shouldn't be a problem, but most places don't have enough staff present to handle the take outs, so they know they are going to have to deal with disgruntled customers.
Load More Replies...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.
I thought only Georgia Engel could do that! And she does it so well.
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.
This, so much this. My parents don't understand why I'm exhausted and sometimes royally pissed off with the world after I get off of work. I'm told i should be grateful I have a job, and I am, but taking crap all day and being forced to just deal it with it is extremely draining.
I did a lot of temp work in the ‘80s and ‘90s and when someone on the phone would start to harass me over not knowing something they needed to know, saying “I’m a temp” would immediately change their attitude.
I call this "pooping" sunshine and skittles. My mom and I would joke about how she was all out of sunshine and skittles by the time she got home lol. So glad she has chosen a different career path now!
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
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.
I'll neever forget how a doctor suddenly became very friendly with me, after a test he did. I was terrified - until the bloodworks came in and he was grumpy as usual. Jeez. Super friendly docotrs are f*cking scary!
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.
It annoys me how people get lots of upvotes by just saying "lol"
Load More Replies...Never been part of my job, but I do the same thing when spelling out letters. We have 2 sorts of alphabets for those. A Militairy-, and phone alphabet. So Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Anton, Bernard, Cornelis. Usually I go with the first one out of preference, but a lot of the time, others have no idea what letter I mean, so I have to use the latter. I don't see the problem with using Delta Alpha Victor Echo, or Dirk Anton Victor Edward, both spell out my name
Yup, picked this up working tech support, and it became habit in all my phone calls now any time I need to spell something out.
I have a similar thing 😅 worked at a call center during my bachelor. Quickly adapted to the german spelling system using Dora-Ida-Adam-North pole-Adam to spell my name etc as we were also dealing with swiss and austrian people speaking really fast in their own accent. Still do it sometimes 5 years after quitting
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
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 😬
Me too. And I nervous laugh. I get on my own nerves.
Load More Replies...Many years experience as switchbosrd operator and call center supervision here. There's an exercise for this. On a sheet of paper, write the following: BING BONG DING DONG KING KONG Mow say each line in a normal voice. You will hear your pitch lower with each line. When you get to KING KONG, that is the pitch and tone you're going for. Try it!
It's not your fault, it's your job :) people shouldn't be rude to service people for being "fake"- because the truth is they don't want to hear the reality. The reality being you're like the hundredth person I've seen today and I'm absolutely not happy to see you, and my feet hurt. Wtf do you want
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.
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.
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.
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.
I admittedly have a customer voice and a customer service voice(retail will do that to you after awhile). I try to use the former out of work, especially when at restaurants and other stores. Their jobs are stressful enough without me adding to it.
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?"
I was with a friend once at the mall, and we ducked into the store he worked in at the time to say hello to his coworkers. In .01 seconds he went from gay to uber over-the-top gay. After we left the store, I was like "what was that?" He didn't even realize he'd done it; apparently customers love a flamboyantly gay salesman in a clothing shop and he sold more when he acted like that. I find it amusing that he can turn up the gay at will.
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.
I worked in a call centre where we had to sign off with 'Thank you for calling' and for years I kept saying that on my personal calls at home even if I phoned out
Customer service mode is nearly impossible to turn off, that's why I love my days off. I don't have to please anyone except myself.
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.
When I had to start working from home last year, my family was fascinated by my "work voice" when I was on calls.
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!!”
"Well actually I'm black, are you sure you're not just glad you're talking to a NICE girl?" In a bubbly voice
I live in the South, and some northerners have told me I have an accent, but I don't hear it. Until I start talking to someone with an accent. I've discovered that I do this with everyone - match the general way they talk. I don't put on, like, British accents or anything (I suck at imitating accents) but when I talk to a fellow Southerner my drawl gets much more pronounced. Once while visiting Canada, a guy asked me why I didn't have a Texas accent so I switched it on for him. His eyes got real big lol.
To be fair, middle aged and older people (call them Boomers if you want but that is NOT a derogatory term) are often lonely and bored, and a friendly voice is just what they're hoping for. My coworker in IT support once had a dear old lady on the phone for two hours because she was snowed in and frightened. THAT'S customer service. Disclaimer: Many call centers require an issue to be resolved quickly or within a certain time limit to keep the queue moving, but we were allowed to spend as long as it took to resolve IT issues, especially for the older folks. And yes, I'm a baby boomer, born during the years after WW2 when soldiers came home and there was a population "boom" of new babies. That's all it means, people.
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.
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!@#.
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
I bet that was an awesome job! I always wanted to work at a haunted house for Halloween.
After I worked at a Coca-Cola call center answering 100's of calls a day, I can't tell you how many times I answered my own phone with the "This is Coca-Cola..." greeting.
Did you work for Coke that year they did those white and silver polar bear cans and customers kept calling in complaining that the cola in them tasted funny?
Load More Replies...I try to be nice to service workers - try to latch on to their feelings, treat them like human beings, and of course tip them well. I ain't perfect, but hey, I'm only human. All I can do is my damnedest.
I have a coworker that doesn’t even give a f**k. He just does everything in his “dead inside” voice.
I had a friend in high school who had a "customer service voice" whenever she talked to adults. It would suddenly become super high pitched and overly sweet, used to drive me crazy. I have worked in customer service so I myself have developed one over the years, which has been simmered down to a basic politeness for strangers and people who work in retail, servers, etc.
I had that voice too, I never meant to be like that though, it was an anxiety issue I had + my coping mechanism for talking to adults. Wouldn't surprise if she did that for the same reason.
Load More Replies...I’ve surprised people who know me when they’ve heard me talking to the public as a volunteer (I volunteer for a tall ship museum and info kiosk) and then as myself. It’s surprised me too because I’m not a fan of crowds or people in general but when I’m in volunteer mode I’m the nicest person ever. My partner calls it public service mode 🙄
Ive had a "work voice/persona" since i was about 15ish, so 20+ yrs at least. Shes a spunky, happy lady. Totally unlike her alter. Her alter has spent too many yrs being spunky & happy to people who are jerks. Shes no longer spunky or happy
I am not sure my comment will be welcome as practically every one here seem to be scarred for life.I have worked in the service industry on and off my whole life...I loved every minute of it.Hotel receptionist,Telephone exchange,American Express,Nursing home for the elderly and let me tell you,there were some Tartars there...I would cry with laughter at some of their antics.One told me »I don´t like you» and I answered »I don´t like you much either,but let me go get you another cup of coffee»Her demeanor changed from that day on.And last was 4 years as a volunteer at a Maternity Hospital.I have met some amazing people,one a 101 year old Nun that had Proust on her bedside table and spent hours on her Pc every day.I will never forget her.
I think it’s great that you’re a people pleaser...those are the ones who should be working in the service industry. I’m a loner and before I retired, I get easily overwhelmed and stressed by having to deal with too many people at a time. I spent seven years working at a video store and I can’t tell how how many times my boss would sigh and say, “Mary Rose, you need to be nicer to the customers.” But he never fired me because I was a hard worker and I had an encyclopedic knowledge of film, which was appreciated by the film buffs who came in. I actually had someone from the San Francisco Chronicle call to ask a movie question because they had heard there was someone at the store who might be able to answer their question. This was well before the Internet, obviously.
Load More Replies...After I worked at a Coca-Cola call center answering 100's of calls a day, I can't tell you how many times I answered my own phone with the "This is Coca-Cola..." greeting.
Did you work for Coke that year they did those white and silver polar bear cans and customers kept calling in complaining that the cola in them tasted funny?
Load More Replies...I try to be nice to service workers - try to latch on to their feelings, treat them like human beings, and of course tip them well. I ain't perfect, but hey, I'm only human. All I can do is my damnedest.
I have a coworker that doesn’t even give a f**k. He just does everything in his “dead inside” voice.
I had a friend in high school who had a "customer service voice" whenever she talked to adults. It would suddenly become super high pitched and overly sweet, used to drive me crazy. I have worked in customer service so I myself have developed one over the years, which has been simmered down to a basic politeness for strangers and people who work in retail, servers, etc.
I had that voice too, I never meant to be like that though, it was an anxiety issue I had + my coping mechanism for talking to adults. Wouldn't surprise if she did that for the same reason.
Load More Replies...I’ve surprised people who know me when they’ve heard me talking to the public as a volunteer (I volunteer for a tall ship museum and info kiosk) and then as myself. It’s surprised me too because I’m not a fan of crowds or people in general but when I’m in volunteer mode I’m the nicest person ever. My partner calls it public service mode 🙄
Ive had a "work voice/persona" since i was about 15ish, so 20+ yrs at least. Shes a spunky, happy lady. Totally unlike her alter. Her alter has spent too many yrs being spunky & happy to people who are jerks. Shes no longer spunky or happy
I am not sure my comment will be welcome as practically every one here seem to be scarred for life.I have worked in the service industry on and off my whole life...I loved every minute of it.Hotel receptionist,Telephone exchange,American Express,Nursing home for the elderly and let me tell you,there were some Tartars there...I would cry with laughter at some of their antics.One told me »I don´t like you» and I answered »I don´t like you much either,but let me go get you another cup of coffee»Her demeanor changed from that day on.And last was 4 years as a volunteer at a Maternity Hospital.I have met some amazing people,one a 101 year old Nun that had Proust on her bedside table and spent hours on her Pc every day.I will never forget her.
I think it’s great that you’re a people pleaser...those are the ones who should be working in the service industry. I’m a loner and before I retired, I get easily overwhelmed and stressed by having to deal with too many people at a time. I spent seven years working at a video store and I can’t tell how how many times my boss would sigh and say, “Mary Rose, you need to be nicer to the customers.” But he never fired me because I was a hard worker and I had an encyclopedic knowledge of film, which was appreciated by the film buffs who came in. I actually had someone from the San Francisco Chronicle call to ask a movie question because they had heard there was someone at the store who might be able to answer their question. This was well before the Internet, obviously.
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