Apple doesn't want your feedback. (and a rudeness rant)

Keep this in mind. Apple doesn't want - nor need - your suggestions.

Apparently a young woman decided she had some ideas to improve her Nano, and wrote Apple to make some suggestions. Apple responded "nastily" from their legal department - causing the poor girl to run and hide in her room. (the actual response letter isn't published - but if you click the links there is a video...)

Nice, eh?
(via Blogging Baby)



Speaking of rudeness...

I've often thought about this, and have actually come across situations involving this very phenomenon. And it's true. You can tell a LOT about people by the way they treat wait staff at restaurants, counter clerks at coffee shops, cleaning people in buildings, etc. Watch people sometime and make notes about how they treat people. It's very interesting. (haven't you been embarassed and suprised by a friend's behavior at a restaurant before? I know I have...)

One of my favorite NON-political blogs, WaiterRant.net, links to a USA Today article dealing with this very thing. He goes a bit farther, however, and warns us that such behavior could cost you a job.

I was a waitress for many years, so I know not to be rude to wait staff. I know what they go through - and I know that if you get the wrong waiter having a bad day and you're mean to him or her you might find something in your food you didn't ask for. (I've only seen this happen once and believe me, it's not a common occurence. But it happens.)

It shouldn't be an "act", though. These people are...people. Just because they're serving you your food, or polishing and buffing your toes, or cleaning your office? It doesn't mean that you are somehow superior to them. You should always treat them with respect and appreciate them for what they do.

I'm not claiming some kind of moral high ground here. I've just seen, first-hand, the results of a well-placed compliment (like the poor, over-worked pick-up window guy at Wendy's and his grin when I complimented him on how FAST they were that day), or a "Hi! How are you?" to the late-night cleaning staff at my building. There's an older gentleman (I just found out he's EIGHTY!!) at my building who works as a security guard that just brightens up whenever people take the time to say "hi" or engage him in a brief conversation.

It's not brain surgery...it's a matter of treating people like...people.

And what about those rude waiters? Those "I'm too busy to help you customers suck I hate my job" people? There's such a woman at Target. She works the dressing rooms. (I'm very familiar with the Target dressing rooms...) And she's mean. My mom and I decided that she wasn't a mean person, just probably used to the mean treatment by customers. So. We hung up our clothes after trying them on and handed them back to her with a smile and a "Thank you!". No response. Next time? Same thing. This time we tried to chat with her for a minute, unfazed by her grunts and unresponsiveness. By the third time we went there (okay, yeah, we have a Target Shopping Problem...) she actually remembered us and almost...ALMOST...smiled at us.

So. It works. And doesn't it make you feel good to make someone else smile?

Okay. Off my soapbox. *smile*