Serving suggestion

Good to see Charlie Brooker taking a well-deserved swipe at people "who pop into Debenhams and suddenly think they're Henry VIII inspecting the serfs". As someone who's worked in retail and cafes on more than one occasion, I've experienced what it's like to be treated like scum for no other reason than the fact that you're on the opposite side of the counter from the customer. Why is it that a little bit of common decency and empathy is too much for some?

Incidentally, I'm also in agreement with Brooker about such retail/service jobs themselves - they aren't necessarily soul-sapping and can actually be enjoyable. While there's an element of drudgery, that same drudgery can leave the mind free, and there's a definite sense of liberation at the end of a shift - your responsibilities (limited as they are in any case) are over, and you take little if any baggage from the working day away with you.

I was dismayed to discover I'd be working every Friday night in one particular job, but in actual fact the shifts passed swiftly and pleasantly because nearly everyone popping in had a whole work-free weekend ahead of them and so was in a cheerful mood. The Wednesday afternoon shifts were much worse, especially if the Lottery machine had the temerity to break down, when we were somehow expected to metamorphose from till staff and shelf stackers into skilled engineers...

(Thanks to Neil for the link.)