AND
No comic next week, as i’ll be out of town and out of province visiting some people who are related to me. The world heaves a sigh of relief, spared for a brief time my overbearing textual assaults. The animals peer gingerly from the woods. The cars roll from the tunnels. Is it safe to come out?
Sorry,
your friend the maniac
June 16, 2009 at 5:19 am
The world would be eerily comfortable if those people were punished. Though you should’ve included stupid kids on buses with mobile phones. Grr.
I’ll mourn the lack of comic next week, and there will be much rejoicing when another one comes.
June 16, 2009 at 5:44 am
This one is probably my favorite of the last several, the poetry aspect reminds me a bit of Watterson (probably no connection but I thought I’d mention it). I love your comics, though I do agree there are too many words sometimes. Well done.
June 16, 2009 at 5:51 am
This would take care of my mother-in-law who I’ve seen be a real idiot to more than one waiter. Unbelievable.
June 16, 2009 at 5:57 am
…and some people should accept that they are clerks and waiters and that’s all they will ever be. There’s nothing wrong with taking some pride in your work and not blaming the general public for your pathetic fucking life.
June 16, 2009 at 6:25 am
Move over Doctor Suess!!
June 16, 2009 at 6:37 am
This should be a government policy. ntimid8 could be the first customer…
June 16, 2009 at 6:38 am
@ntimid8 It’s not so much blaming people that our lives are pathetic so much as people making our lives suck that much more. Throwing a tantrum gets you no farther than being civil (at least at the establishment I work at.) So what’s the point of making other people feel worse about their job or making their job more difficult? I am not a psychologist, but sometimes I think there are a few who secretly want to be a sadist.
June 16, 2009 at 7:32 am
I love the comic and wish people would be more kind to each other, but you yourself would end up with a funny hat on during community service. Cops are people too, you cant knock them all for a few bad eggs, just like in any other group of people. Other than that, awesome comic, I plan on printing it and posting it at work to make people think. Just with some blue tape over the riot shields.
June 16, 2009 at 7:47 am
t1m, I agree, this is the best one for a long time, and quite poetic
That said, when I worked in phone support, I had very few problems with cranky customers. Maybe one per year. In general, people were grateful to have their problems fixed, even when they strictly speaking were our company’s fault. I am probably blessed.
June 16, 2009 at 8:05 am
are and au revoir seems like a half rhyme to me…
June 16, 2009 at 8:13 am
the jerks are common people who were treated wrong by other jerks. so when you’re being a jerk, sooner or later it comes back to you.
June 16, 2009 at 10:36 am
I can’t remember the comic, but I saw one recently that said “when someone says they’re “from a different time” it means that they’re full of hate, but it’s okay because they’re old and harmless.”
June 16, 2009 at 11:42 am
Having worked with the public for some years, it is definetely something to look forward for, even if it means I’ll have to wear some funny hats myself for most of the year.
Having dealt with the men and women in blue, I can confirm that most of them are honest hard working folks who only want to help their citizen. It’s too bad the unions spend so much energy defending the violent sociopaths.
June 16, 2009 at 12:15 pm
But would the waitress be taken away if she’s not giving excellent service?
And are we just talking about situations related to work here, or does the visit to a friend’s house risk getting community service?
ToasterShiv: “Though you should’ve included stupid kids on buses with mobile phones.”
Are you suggesting that adults never do this? Because I beg to differ. People are inherently jerks, so of course, the cell phone was welcomed with open arms to bring more jerkiness into the universe.
June 16, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Sorry, I sounded a bit critical. I was mostly joking.
I really liked the comic, as usual.
June 16, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Having been at the receiving end of such abuse myself, I can commiserate. But what if at some point, we’re all jerks ?
I mean, there is no excuse for such behavior, but at some point, even the most well-behaved person can actually be rude, or insensitive, even dismissive.
June 16, 2009 at 1:47 pm
pretty good, but the meter seems kinda fucked up.
June 16, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I, for one, welcome our politeness gestapo overlords.
That, or at least issuing everyone a twelve inch plastic ruler and have it mandated that twits be fwipped on the nose.
June 16, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Love it! As a recent high school graduate that’s also worked in a restaurant for more than a year, I deal with my fair share of people who glaze over as soon as they see my uniform and age. It’s unbelievable the way people treat minimum wage earners. When it gets to be too much to bear, I think of the scholarship that’s taking me to a great school in the fall and mentally tell our overindulging customers to chew on that.
June 16, 2009 at 7:04 pm
What do I spy, ALTERNATE TEXT! Egads! How interesting!
A lovely poem and comic! I love the different texts on the riot shields, my favorite being “Finnally a good use for riot shields”, Again, it’s the little details you put in that make the comic even more amazing!
June 16, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I love the old lady
glaring her daggers,
if I were at all witty,
I’d rhyme that with beggars.
June 16, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I want to be one of the jerk arresting cops! What satisfaction THAT job would provide..
BTW, whats with this “too wordy” business? Has reading gone that far out of style? Dang!
June 17, 2009 at 2:05 am
It might just be me, but the comic hasn’t appeared on the main page. Is this the case for anyone else?
June 17, 2009 at 4:36 am
Oh dear.
This is so emotional, so true…
But where are all the words?
June 17, 2009 at 5:50 am
Some people have bad days. Some are inherently bad people.
We has an electrical fire in part of the cooling system at my store the other day and had to leave the building for one hour while it was dealt with. One impatient woman pulled up and began berating my general manager for ‘letting it happen’, when we don’t even control the maintenance schedule to begin with. Then she called to do it some more.
June 17, 2009 at 6:53 am
Thoughtful and funny stuff. I’ve spent many years in the service industry and couldn’t agree more. Instead of jail, perhaps we could force jerks to work the same positions so they know how it feels…
June 17, 2009 at 11:19 am
i loved the art and concept, but “p” up there has a point, the meter could have been improved.
the comic invoked the occasional poems you find in the calvin and hobbes collections, and those were a bit more witty and well paced.
you seemed tired while making this..
anyways, looking forward to next next week!
June 17, 2009 at 11:21 am
oh, good to see more pink haired girl this week, i got my wish.
June 18, 2009 at 7:05 am
Nine Inch Nails reference! Whoo!
June 18, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Nice illustrations! I once thought that just once everyone should have to work a lowly service job just to feel whats its like to be treated this way, I think you made a clearer point though!
June 19, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Seriously, do you drive a truck at all?
June 20, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Thank you for putting into verse what I can only turn into an expletive-filled rant. This should be blown up poster-size and put in the entrance of every restaurant, store, etc in the whole world.
(and the piggy line made me smile, too)
June 22, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Having worked in a supermarket for more years that I care to admit to. I spent a lot of time dealing with customers. It got to the stage where the nice ones were the exception rather than the rule. We even had a list of regulars that we would run and hide from because they would inevitably come and abuse you about something. Some of the my fondest memories of that place are getting half of a couple to agree with me and then letting them argue about it while I stepped back and watched.
When I have something to complain about I try to be reasonable and the sheer shock from the person you are complaining to is unbelievable. They just can’t believe that you are being nice to them. Still I have met my fair share of jerks who don’t give a damn if you are having problems or not. I think this one goes both ways.
June 22, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Amen!
June 22, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Russ Blevins is such an asshole.
June 22, 2009 at 8:46 pm
i wouldnt yell at that server she’s hot.
June 22, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Doctor Seuss could not have said it better.
June 23, 2009 at 1:15 am
Amen to that!
oinck
June 23, 2009 at 4:25 am
i agree 100 % i go to work cuz i know its gonna be fun cuz someones gonna be an ass… dont mess with the people who make ur food.
June 23, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I agree, we are there to provide a service to you NOT the other way around!
June 23, 2009 at 8:53 pm
what a great comic! Although I’d probably have been in the slammer a few times already if it were true…
June 23, 2009 at 11:44 pm
Enforcement of anti-jerk policy would take craploads of money and effort to enforce, in addition to requiring some violation of basic privacy rights.
It would so be worth it, though.
June 24, 2009 at 11:03 am
Hi Winston
Can you do another one about Ikea’s Billy bookcases? Thanks,
Simon
June 24, 2009 at 5:19 pm
These are some of the most interesting comments I have ever seen. I particularly liked the ‘chew on that’ from the server, but they’re pretty much all great. Obviously, this is a very classy bar! (Yeah, the others mutter, so how did HE get in here?)
June 24, 2009 at 10:04 pm
it should be illegal to be a jerk then my parents would be haled off
June 24, 2009 at 10:32 pm
just remember… its the monkeys that start flinging sh*t at people. this always reminds me to enjoy their ridiculous antics much more easily.
June 24, 2009 at 10:33 pm
This is the best freaking comic I have ever seen if that is what you want to call it. Amen!!!
June 25, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Read all the Comics from the beginning, a damn lot of words for a non-native speaker xD But I enjoyed it, keep it up. Greetings from the most mentioned country in this comic
June 26, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Epic. Everything is better in rhyme.
June 27, 2009 at 5:07 pm
On the whole, good and sound, however, the yelling at the staff exemplifies how corporations employ human shields to deflect wrong consumer’s wrath. The staff are all you can reach, the real criminals are out of reach of the yelling. What are we to do!?
June 27, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Awesome. Love humor with a point.
June 28, 2009 at 2:05 am
That’s the truth
June 28, 2009 at 5:41 am
AHAHAHAHAahaahahaa!
Damn, that’s so true.
I work in a International Health Insurances for Travellers, and you have no idea how many Jerks I answered the last years.
June 28, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Well done. This is by far my favorite comic to date, after being directed here from a photo posted in “Atheist, Agnostic, and Non-Religious” on Facebook.
Unfortunately, since we’re not going to see this sort of police force any time soon, I suppose we’ll all just have to learn to be nice to the little guy; always try to help the folks who are most likely to be treated poorly.
June 29, 2009 at 3:43 pm
The subnormality home page doesn’t point to the current comic. Have you considered making all those pages dynamic?
June 29, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Gah!! Withdrawal symptoms! Come back Winston! We need ye!
June 30, 2009 at 1:54 am
I disagree whole-heartedly. If this were true, we would be living in a state which does not protect the right to free speech. This would just be another step in governing the individual’s right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. Also, it would weaken the population’s tolerance to the annoying, just as pocket technology does. This weakening promotes mental health issues as well as a decline in social skills. Certainly the world would be more bearable, but would it be nearly as interesting or varying in personalities? If everyone outside of a jail cell behaved properly, would you ever appreciate it when someone was nice to you? I think not.
This is certainly an interesting concept, but I fear it is not practical nor ideal.
June 30, 2009 at 2:49 am
Ben: Sorry, you have to put your rebuttal entirely in rhyme or I won’t listen.
June 30, 2009 at 3:13 am
Good thing for Ben it was just a dream.
June 30, 2009 at 5:07 am
I did not see this comic until just now. I am thrilled and satisfied.
-Heather
June 30, 2009 at 7:02 pm
i concur
June 30, 2009 at 10:18 pm
If you hate being surrounded by jerks all the time, why not move to North Korea? Surley there are no jerks there.
The “Chill, it’s all just for fun” argument would be valid if this comic had any humor or originality. All it has is yet another flat “wouldn’t it be nice if people we hate suffered” adolescent fantasy. Yeah, it would be nice. We can’t cope with all of those meanies by ourselves, so let’s pretend we can. Boo-frickin-hoo.
July 1, 2009 at 1:10 am
Max Chaplin: Balderdash!! You, sir, are a cad and a bounder!! a-and a charlatan to boot!! I dare say some scallywag must have over-vulcanized your britches!! (new rule for comments section: all arguments must be in stereotypical old-timey speak!)
July 1, 2009 at 1:31 am
Always nice to see another who appreciates what it is to work in the service industry. Thank god I switched to aircraft maintenance, and now customers are completely at my mercy. On another note entirely, Winston, you should get published, if you can find a mainstream paper ballsy enough to publish mild social commentary.
July 1, 2009 at 8:58 am
Ben: We’re not talking full on governmental supervision of ALL people in the whole world. Just that you try to be nice to uniformed people, like waiters or cashiers, but if you’re already so paranoid that you instantly think of 1984 then I’m sorry for you. And for the people who have to serve you.
July 1, 2009 at 9:50 am
We of the call center industry salute you, kind sir.
July 1, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Clone Nr. 2: I dont quite understand how this comic could be interpreted as anything but the though police from 1984, but that is negligent of my point. I am trying to point out that for everything that you make a crime, it removes the individuals ability to develop that character trait for themselves. I.E. when you give people welfare, how likely is it that someone with more money is going to say: “I would love to help my neighbor!” I find that it is more likely for them to say: “Goddamn government taking money from my paycheck for some lazy bastards that dont want to get jobs!” And furthermore, your assumption that I would be affected by the proposed laws in this comic just show how readily you drop the idea of discussion and debate, and deride to name calling. I always make an effort to treat any wait staff well, and usually end up with my waiter or waitress sitting at my table chatting (I tend to eat out during slow times, as I do not like crowded places.)
Oh, and by the way, you may want to reread the comic, it does not make mention of limiting this supervision to the uniformed industry. It actually specifically mentions imprisoning a clerk who is rude to you.
P.S. Just to make myself clear, this fascism of morals will remove human kinds natural desire to create emotions within themselves that allow co-existance.
July 1, 2009 at 6:24 pm
“…how likely is it that someone with more money is going to say: “I would love to help my neighbor!”"
How likely is that to happen in the first place, outside your wildest libertarian fantasies?
P.S. – it’s a friggin’ comic. Get over it.
July 2, 2009 at 2:04 am
Haha, obviously wouldn’t be practical to enforce, but I like the idea.
July 2, 2009 at 6:15 am
As someone who is made to feel like she’s not a real person every day just because she’s behind a counter, I love this.
July 2, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Working in service industry is pretty horrible. It sucks that most people treat the hardest working people the worst and then act with deference towards the upper class.
I hope she gets to color her hair whatever shade she wants some day.
July 3, 2009 at 9:56 am
I love how the building outside’s giving her the finger. Details like that make me happy…
July 3, 2009 at 10:47 am
That guy yelling at the girl cutting grass has no right to be upset. If you hire Murphy Lawn Care you’ve only got yourself to blame.
July 4, 2009 at 11:43 am
I absolutely love all of those comics in general and I find the idea proposed in this specific strip just fascinating. I mean you can philosophy about it up and down the whole freedom of speech violation ladder yadda yadda, but the idea is just too plain perfect, but it’s blasphemy I guess. Without jerks we’d be back in paradise, which is not whath He wanthes and shit. We’re doomed to eternal struggle with jerks and everyone got his own approach to that. Buddha would just smile. Jesus’d get his cheeks smacked smiling.
So it’s not possible to get the bad ones out of society. Why not just form one of our very own? Club of non-jerks? Like just wear some CoNJ hat and only talk to people wearing one as well?
But Ben’s right, although he’s stupid. One could not implement the idea in any existing governmental system, since we’d all need some neutral goodwilling almighty force to judge, which would instead be done by people. *sigh*
Love those viruscomix.
July 4, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Silly people.
The purpose of this comic is to make you and me, the readers, stop and think before we start ranting against someone who has just annoyed us.
However, I agree that it would be an excellent thing to put up at stores, restaurants and in the company lunch room as well.
Spread the word! ^_^
July 5, 2009 at 7:04 pm
http://www.xomba.com/11_ways_to_guarantee_saliva_in_your_food_at_a_restaurant
My take on this. Very good points though.
July 5, 2009 at 7:07 pm
Very nice. I can tell you working at tech support for 2 years you remember the jerks most of all. About 80% of my customers I could calm down and get their problems fixed. The other 20% wanted to yell, scream, and act like a baby.
Mama didn’t raise no fool. It is foolish to get into the battle of wits with an unarmed opponent. I usually dumped them on another service rep or the boss, if he was in. The boss would listen to their balling, burped them, and gave them a sucker for their trouble.
Thank god I don’t have to do that again. I am very respectful of customer service people. I am not very tolerate of companies that have dumb and anti-customer policies, however (insurance companies come to mind). Again, not the reps fault.
July 6, 2009 at 8:13 am
I feel bad for formerly pink-hair lady. She went to school for something, right? She can get a better job doing something, yes?
I don’t want to see her gentle and free spirit get crushed by slinging plates. :`(
July 8, 2009 at 9:57 am
Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, so much yes. This comic is so fecking right. I work in a call centre. I can’t tell you how many girls I’ve seen in tears as soon as they hang up the phone because of the horrible, reckless, racist, sexist jerkitards in the world. I can’t even tell you how many times that girl has been me. God. Damn. Jerks. We’re people too.
July 9, 2009 at 12:37 am
Perhaps a follow up cartoon. A group of children are at the Asshole Zoo listening to the keeper. “Once children there were tens of millions of assholes running free in North America. Then early in the 21st century they were hunted to near extinction. Most died in camps, though plenty were killed by mobs who were fed up with their shenanigans.”
July 12, 2009 at 10:07 am
(Hope no one else said this first) Our prisons are full enough, lawl.
July 14, 2009 at 2:44 am
Thank you so much for drawing this comic. I work at a zoo and I have to deal with parents and children complaining all day. I try to be my happiest and helpful but even then I am second-class to the “guests”. I really wish people would see uniforms and respect them rather than think they are badges of servitude. Uniform wearers unite! We should all understand each other and respect each other!
August 28, 2009 at 7:04 pm
A government agency to police the people we don’t like. What a cop-out (pun? whoops) You get shit from someone? Deal with it. People mean to you at work, put them in their place yourself. Your boss doesn’t like it? Put them in their place as well. Hiding behind some Jerk Police is unnecessary, providing you have strength, and if you don’t have the strength, you deserve to be stepped on with no-one to blame but yourself.
November 12, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Great comic. One of the *very* few that are worthwhile – and boy does it almost make up for all the shit that’s out there. All by itself. Thanks, and I hope you’re able to continue, and maybe even get rich and famous! What a hoot that’d be, huh? WOOHOOO! Good luck!
November 13, 2009 at 1:29 am
As someone who used to work as a telemarketer, I think it’s important that people have the right to be angry when they feel a business is fucking them over. It’s too bad if the person whose feelings get hurt is just a cog in the machine, but I put myself in that position by taking the job and I don’t expect to be able to escape responsibility for what that job entails.
Saying ‘don’t be a jerk’ is all very well, but nobody thinks they’re being a jerk at the time. People actually have differences of opinion, and sure sometimes someone’s wrong when he thinks he’s not being a jerk and needs to be taught a lesson, but jailing him isn’t the way to do it unless he assaults or threatens someone.
There are two communities on livejournal, one called ‘customers suck’ and the other ‘bad service’. If you read both of them you’ll quickly see that there are assholes on both sides of the counter, and wealth or a sense of privilege has nothing to do with it. Bitter, unpleasant people come from all social strata and blaming the rich is as ignorant as blaming the poor. This is something the strip recognises early on, albeit as an aside, but seems to forget as it goes on.
Putting a stop to rudeness in the workplace is a noble goal, but I think it’s quixotic. Rather I think we should see these unpleasant encounters as an opportunity to cultivate dignity under pressure. When the insults just slide off you and you can respond with a relaxed, “very good, sir. And will that be all?” in the effortless style of an old english butler, you and everyone else will know that no tantrum can spoil your day and that you’ll always be better than the people who rage at you – who, without the ability to make you angry, will only further upset themselves.
As a customer service employee a thick skin is one of your job skills; not having one is like being a surgeon who is a bit iffy about the whole stitching part even if he is great with the knife.
Now I say this when we’re talking about asshole customers, I don’t mean to apply this advice for a moment to asshole employers, or actual dangerous customers. If a customer does more than shout, you should be able to expect backup and protection from your boss, your colleagues, and the police. Likewise, abuse from your employer – or a situation where your employer requires you to allow customers to get away with murder – is not something you can shrug off. For instance, stores which won’t allow clerks to stop customers who are stealing, but who penalise the clerks for money lost to theft. It sounds surreal but apparently this is a real policy, and living with this sort of daily injustice is far worse than the occasional tantrum over the phone.
November 13, 2009 at 11:28 am
Nice, isn’t it? How everyone who’s enthusiastically supporting this cartoon is only thinking about how such a law would affect OTHER people?
‘Because surely, this would never apply to me!’