What's Wrong With "Wow?"

[karma_gypsy]

Had those ladies been me, being the geek I am, I would have replied "WORLD OF WARCRAFT!!!" and left you completely stunned.

That's hilarious...!!!!

[Mike Taylor]

It's all a matter of perception and it's something we all have to be aware of. I was in a similar situation with a customer that had called a previous job. I forget what the conversation was about, but I do remember sighing because I was tired while following through on whatever it was the customer wanted me to do. The manager then spoke to the customer for a bit and then came to me later saying, "The customer on the phone said you were rude to them."

"What?"

"They said you sighed when they asked you for [whatever it was they needed], like you didn't want to do it."

That was furthest thing from my mind, but it came across that way to the customer.

[BookstoreEscapee]

"They said you sighed when they asked you for [whatever it was they needed], like you didn't want to do it."

I sigh a lot. Probably more than I even realize. I tend to take shallow breaths, especially when I am stressed out, so every once in a while I will take a deep breath/big sigh just because I'm not getting enough air. It's just an anxiety thing and has nothing whatsoever to do with what I'm doing or who I'm talking to.

[Tria]

I would have been a little speechless if you had said wow to me in that situation. Not to say they didn't deserve it, however. It's one of those things you think, but never say.

To answer your question: yes, you were rude by saying wow to them. Chalk it up as a brain-to-mouth filter malfunction, let it roll off your back, and don't let it happen again.

And THAT is ONE of the MANY problems with the world today. Most of us are raised to be honest and polite. Unfortunately, if conflict strikes, we are basically required by society to give up honesty to be nice. I think it's better to be honest and give an answer that isn't liked, than lie and spare feelings.

Men, I'm sure you get this one.

Woman: "Honey, does this dress make my butt look big?"

Man: *Says* No sweetie, you're beautiful.

Man *THINKS* No, that Boston cream pie and pizza do that.

Denial BAD, and if you ask that question or any other when you KNOW you won't like the truth, you should get the truth. It's the old clue-by-four. Saying Wow was NOTHING compared to walking up to a smoker chugging away by the front door and -yelling- at the idiot who's right by the sign saying no smoking past the perimeter of the parking lot or telling the smelly guy who's got MOLD growing on the back of his neck to bathe(Yes, I've seen both and reacted accordingly).

But I digress, saying "wow" given the context of his job may have been considered rude, but as my fiend says, "It ain't a hanging offense".

[Broomjockey]

Wow. All that fuss over one little word?

Seriously though, *maybe* it was rude, but them not realizing that it is infact 2 different types of payment? Usually when people split up their orders, they discuss (or at least my friends and I do) how everyone's paying. In fact, on rare occassions that people are paying cash together, we'll cover each other to be able to combine orders, if possible, or just pool to be faster at the pay window. The fact that they managed to get as far as ordering seperately, but not discuss payment is sad.

Eh, as another said: Chalk it up to brain filter failure, move on, and hope you never see them again.

[Boozy]

I've been trying to figure out what the conversation would have actually sounded like. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to hear the word "Wow" being spoken in this context in any tone other than sarcastic.

So yes - it was rude.

But its no capital crime. What's done is done. Try not to do it again, and move on.

[Becks]

I think the customers were sucky, but not Max.

I probably would've had the same reaction as him.

[aurelemsrealm]

I'd have probably said, "Okay......." with a sigh instead of "Wow....." That's just one of my habits, and so I don't give it much thought. Then again, I'd have probably just muttered a disinterested "Whatever," at the complaining customer at the window and walked away. That's usually how I handle my most irritating customers. I shrug and walk away indifferently once they've paid and received their change.

When I worked drive-thru at Wendy's, I never really got annoyed with split orders so much as I was frustrated by special orders since you had to enter the options into the register in specific ways and the customer just rattled it off in no particular order. I always found myself wanting to tell them "Take it" or "Leave it" are today's menu choices. Luckily, I rarely worked drive-thru because I always had a hard time understanding them on the headphones. Similarly, I can't understand customers who speak to me through the intercoms at the gas pumps at my current job. At least I don't have to worry about getting special orders right any more.

[simplyanother]

When I worked drive-thru at Wendy's, I never really got annoyed with split orders so much as I was frustrated by special orders since you had to enter the options into the register in specific ways and the customer just rattled it off in no particular order. I always found myself wanting to tell them "Take it" or "Leave it" are today's menu choices.

And that's why I don't go through drive thrus. I figure, if I need to tell them "no onions/just ketchup" or whatever, then I can bring my ass inside.

I do admit, I would have been irritated by the "wow", because like a previous poster, I cannot "hear" it being said in a way other than sarcastically.

But I also agree that it was no big deal, and that the customers should have let it go. It's just one of those things we have to be aware of. Sometimes, we do shit without thinking. And sometimes when we do it, we have monumental jerks in our lines.

Life is fun!

(You know what recently made my blood boil? I was reading a thread on another forum, where the people were discussing experiences with customer service, and one woman wrote "they should know their place" (that is, people in retail, fast food, etc), and KNOW she probably didn't mean it the way it sounded. But...oh man, I wanted to hit her.

[myswtghst]

....I was frustrated by special orders since you had to enter the options into the register in specific ways and the customer just rattled it off in no particular order. I always found myself wanting to tell them "Take it" or "Leave it" are today's menu choices.

And that's why I don't go through drive thrus. I figure, if I need to tell them "no onions/just ketchup" or whatever, then I can bring my ass inside.

I admit, I will do this in the drive-thru, but I try to keep special order requests to a minimum of difficulty, and limited to 1 item (i.e. cheese only or no pickles on my burger. I don't do the whole extra this, a little of that, no this, etc). And I always pay attention to the screen and try to give a minute before worrying if my special order doesn't show up on the screen.

And aurelemsrealm, please realize that those of us who haven't worked with those registers/computers have no idea what the best way to phrase the order is. So as much as I try to be good and polite, and I'm always patient, sometimes it's just the fact that I can't know what the best way to phrase it for you is, so I just have to do my best.

[aurelemsrealm]

And aurelemsrealm, please realize that those of us who haven't worked with those registers/computers have no idea what the best way to phrase the order is. So as much as I try to be good and polite, and I'm always patient, sometimes it's just the fact that I can't know what the best way to phrase it for you is, so I just have to do my best.

I understand that. Most times, I tried to lead customers through that process by asking the questions as carefully and precisely as I could think to do at the time. Many customers would understand what I was doing, so it was no problem with them. In some cases, I had to explain to them that I was having difficulty hearing them well enough to understand their orders. However, the frustration usually came with the ones who tried to get smart because I was asking too many questions or misunderstanding their orders. Yes, I can be too thorough about making sure I get things right in situations like that, but we all know how some people expect us to just read their minds. I guess that and the fact that I couldn't always hear the customers over the background or miscellaneous noises on the headphones is what frustrated me about it.

As a customer, I really don't like going through the drive-thru unless I know what I want, and I have almost exact change for my order. That's just my hangup, but I start to worry about holding anyone else up if I have to sit there trying to decide what I want. If someone else is driving, I have no choice. If I'm driving, I usually just go inside and get it to go if I don't plan to dine inside. I don't know, it just seems easier to me unless I know exactly what I want and have my money in order.

[Neo_Classic]

I don't know what everyone else is hearing in their heads when it comes to this situation but for the life of me I can't hear "wow" being mean. I'm referring to the word itself as I don't know the tone in which it was spoken.

[Broomjockey]

I don't know what everyone else is hearing in their heads when it comes to this situation but for the life of me I can't hear "wow" being mean. I'm referring to the word itself as I don't know the tone in which it was spoken.

Ah, but other are saying they can't think of a tone in which it isn't *rude.* Not mean. Which also means they're supplying their own tones to consider it by.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I don't know what everyone else is hearing in their heads when it comes to this situation but for the life of me I can't hear "wow" being mean. I'm referring to the word itself as I don't know the tone in which it was spoken.

I was thinking of the SNL Celebrity Jeopardy skit where Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek reads the clue "This is the only color that ends in 'urple'", and Hilary Swank buzzes in and answers "What is light urple?", and after a pregnant pause Trebek says "Wow" as in "Wow, you're unbelievably stupid."

[rerant]

And THAT is ONE of the MANY problems with the world today. Most of us are raised to be honest and polite. Unfortunately, if conflict strikes, we are basically required by society to give up honesty to be nice. I think it's better to be honest and give an answer that isn't liked, than lie and spare feelings.

You don't need to sacrifice being nice in order to be honest, and vice versa. It's all in the delivery and the approach, and it's completely possible to tell someone the out-and-out truth without being a jerk about it.

Your example, however, demonstrates the polar opposite, wherein the "truth" is actually a jackass remark to an innocent question.

Men, I'm sure you get this one.

Woman: "Honey, does this dress make my butt look big?"

Man: *Says* No sweetie, you're beautiful.

Man *THINKS* No, that Boston cream pie and pizza do that.

In fact that example cooks up a whole mess of problems with me that I won't bother addressing, but I will say that it exhibits an even bigger problem than sacrificing honesty for niceties.