"Chances are that you, first world inhabitant, are waited on by servants about as much as a minor noble was 400 years ago.
Two major differences come into play:
One is that instead of one or a few men/maids, you're served by multiple different people every day: the drive-through cashier, the uber driver, the retail associate, what have you.
Two is that unless you're really old money, you're probably not used to thinking in terms of servants.
This unfamiliarity, more often than not, draws animosity on both ends. Unless you've worked retail or some in-depth customer service, you roll your eyes and wonder how a grownup could screw up and inconvenience you so much in remarkably petty ways. And the servants themselves are dealing with petty tyrants because some idiot in the corporate hierarchy decided they were going to do something stupid and didn't plan better for it.
So, how does a proper Master/Mistress manage such things?
Be polite, look them in the eyes, and generally treat them like human beings.
Keep remarks that can earn you a punch in the face to yourself. Just because they have to take it doesn't give you a right to dish it out.
Watch for honest mistakes or decisions made above their pay grade, and don't take your frustrations out on them for bearing your bad news.
Tip well but without a lot of fuss. Remember you're showing your appreciation, not your fortune.
Remember that a distance exists between you, so acknowledge it, but don't revel in it.
(That goes double for any you find physically attractive. It's a nigh-guarantee that any perception by you of an open and attracted nature on their part is being forced upon them by their employers one way or another. Using such to indulge in your own desires, however minor, is as loathsome as forcing them yourself. Return their smiles from arm's length, and save your lines for someone free to shoot you down wholeheartedly)"
- Drink Responsibly from your Enemy's Skull:
Savage Manners for Modern Barbarians
Two major differences come into play:
One is that instead of one or a few men/maids, you're served by multiple different people every day: the drive-through cashier, the uber driver, the retail associate, what have you.
Two is that unless you're really old money, you're probably not used to thinking in terms of servants.
This unfamiliarity, more often than not, draws animosity on both ends. Unless you've worked retail or some in-depth customer service, you roll your eyes and wonder how a grownup could screw up and inconvenience you so much in remarkably petty ways. And the servants themselves are dealing with petty tyrants because some idiot in the corporate hierarchy decided they were going to do something stupid and didn't plan better for it.
So, how does a proper Master/Mistress manage such things?
Be polite, look them in the eyes, and generally treat them like human beings.
Keep remarks that can earn you a punch in the face to yourself. Just because they have to take it doesn't give you a right to dish it out.
Watch for honest mistakes or decisions made above their pay grade, and don't take your frustrations out on them for bearing your bad news.
Tip well but without a lot of fuss. Remember you're showing your appreciation, not your fortune.
Remember that a distance exists between you, so acknowledge it, but don't revel in it.
(That goes double for any you find physically attractive. It's a nigh-guarantee that any perception by you of an open and attracted nature on their part is being forced upon them by their employers one way or another. Using such to indulge in your own desires, however minor, is as loathsome as forcing them yourself. Return their smiles from arm's length, and save your lines for someone free to shoot you down wholeheartedly)"
- Drink Responsibly from your Enemy's Skull:
Savage Manners for Modern Barbarians
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