Riferous On 20/20 Job Confessions

For anybody who didn't see Freeman on 20/20, I recommend that you check it out online, merely for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Retail Hell, although they didn't give him nearly enough screen time. :)

I would just like to say that while I realize the focus of the 20/20 show was somewhat narrow,  and Freeman was "only" a guest expert, I personally thought that the way the show was presented was not exactly favorable to retail slaves.  The hook was "retail confessions", and it was a little skewed towards revenge.  You know, spitting in food, telling people off, etc.  While those things are sometimes celebrated (I know I love a getting a good "fuck you" in to somebody who deserves it), I wish they had focused more on what spurs the revenge.  

I think Freeman was the only one who really got into describing the horrible, horrible custys we all encounter, and even with him they had that scratching needle "did he really just say that?" moment.

So if we pretend we are in the TV Guide "Cheers and Jeers" column for a moment, Freeman gets a "Cheers" for calling out the rude, the crude, and downright lewd, but I would have to give the producers a "meh" for not making the message clear.

Anybody else see it?  What did you think?

--Riferous

Comments

[pennyslut<33]

I watched it, and I, too was a little disappointed. I was hoping to have an expose on the ridiculous demands and abuses placed upon us slaves, and instead they made retail slaves look like whiny preteens. I have a feeling 20/20 cut out a lot of material and only presented one side.

[Madness]

FWIW, I think it's generally understood that retail slaves are treated poorly. I've moved on from retail to an office job, and I've found that the same people who treat retail slaves poorly have no problem displaying the same behaviors in the office.

I think that the producers were going for sensationalism more so than anything else. :/ Telling people that they might be a bad customer isn't sensational.

[~Bookstore Slave]

I watched it, and yeah they didn't give him enough time, and they didn't really give enough time to what we have to put up with and instead on how we lash back. It was really disappointing. :(

[NC Tony]

Well 20/20 has never been known for being exactly fair when it comes to... well, anything. Yeah, they made it look more like we just straight up hate the customers with no provocation, instead of showing or telling the reasons WHY we hate the customers.

A perfect example of how 20/20 skews the "news": I was reading Mick Foley's second book (Foley is Good) where he was telling a story about being on 20/20 where the subject was backyard wrestling. You know, those dumb kids that decide to emulate their wrestling heroes by jumping off the roof and slamming each other through flaming tables in their backyards. So of course Mick said he was against kids doing it, they then showed him two video clips. One was of kids just horsing around, the usual shit kids do, nothing extreme. He was fine with that (being a father of three boys) saying it was just kids having fun. Then they showed him footage of the backyard wrestling, and he expressed his displeasure at watching kids nearly kill themselves to entertain their friends. So of course when the special aired, they cut up the interview to show the hardcore backyard wrestling footage with Mick's reaction of "That's fine, it's just kids having fun."

Obviously no one involved with that program ever worked any sort of customer service job.

[Chicajojobe]

I was a little disappointed as well. Especially with the waiter confessions one.
The revenge descriptions like pretending the card was declined and "crop dusting" were fine. I don't care about those, but I wish they hadn't gone into the spitting in people's food. Numerous entries one this blog have shown that most people, even ones who currently work in food services, condemn the that.

Freeman's section was mostly good. However, I did feel like it might somewhat contribute to the custy mentality that retail slaves are out to cheat you out of your money. That's crap. When sales people try to sell stuff they're just doing their job. If they didn't do it, custys would complain about the lack of service. People walk into a store to buy things and in many cases things they don't need.
Just because some retail slave tells you Jennifer Aniston was seen with a certain handbag, doesn't mean you have to buy it. Particularly if you can't afford it! Sales people have always had tricks to make their wares seem more appealing than others, but unless there is true fraud going on (like if they sold you a handbag they knew was a knock off and told you it was designer) then you are responsible for the purchases you make.

[Mick Waukee]

Yes, I saw it, and yes, he should have been given much more time.

[Boho]

It was a horrible piece. Didn't make anyone except the funeral guy look good. I'd be pissed if I were you, Freeman.

[gamestoregirl]

Any link for people NOT in america to watch?

[pennyslut<33]

gamestoregirl, have you tried the link on the abc.com website? its http://abc.go.com/watch/2020/SH559026/VD55196601/2020-427-true-confessions hope that helps.

[gamestoregirl]

Yes and that link says

You appear to be outside the United States or its territories. Due to international rights agreements, we only offer this video to viewers located within the United States and its territories.

[Boho]

Don't worry, Gamergirl, you ain't missin' much >_>

[BookAce]

I wish the bit with Freeman had been a lot longer and more sympathetic to us rather than "salespeople hate you and want to steal your money." =/ It was great to see our fearless leader on TV (he did a great job getting some info out there about the kind of customers we face), but overall the show was a disappointment.

[pagemaster]

Yeah I didn't get past the opening where it was basically saying "Retail workers are terrible and lie to you".

[Joe the Cigar Guy]

Expecting fair reporting from network news is like expecting reasonable comments from Marion Barry.

[Timekeeper's Twit]

Freeman did an awesome job, I was just disappointed because I KNOW more was said. I didn't feel like any of the segments were long enough because they just wanted to get to the porn mom. She's more "sensational".

[Timekeeper's Twit]

Pun intended

[Ambassador Sparkle]

"Retail Workers have to put up with a lot of shit and do their best" doesn't sell.

"Retail Workers think you're a tool and here are the horrible things they do *gasp*" does.

It's no different then what big business does; they'll report what people watch.

[Syruss]

Outside the US so can't watch.
I only really want to see their reaction to Freeman's comments, the man is awesome.