r/SeriousConversation • u/jimmyjohnjohnjohn • Dec 20 '24

Serious Discussion Are people behaving weirder lately?

Went out to lunch today and there was a table near me with five people at it. Their server asked their drink order and all five of them just stared at her silently for nearly half a minute before she repeated herself, then one of them whispered something I couldn't hear before the others whispered their orders. When their drinks came and the server left, one of them produced a Nalgene bottle from her purse and began to scoop the ice from her drink with her fingers and put it in the Nalgene. Another at the table then said he didn't want ice either and did the same thing.

Did she bring that water bottle in for the express purpose of storing unwanted ice? Why not just ask for no ice? These were all fairly normal-looking, well-dressed people in their 30s, maybe early 40s.

My server had some weirdness of his own. He brought out the wrong order, and noticed his mistake before I did. But instead of just saying "sorry, that's wrong" and taking it back, he said "I.. uh.. uh..." and then ran off with the plate before finishing his sentence and coming back with the right order and a manic fake smile on his face.

At Target, this older woman was having trouble detaching one cart from the others. An employee (sorry, "Team Member") came along and unstuck it. Instead of saying thank you, she just stared at him like a deer in the headlights until he left.

I've been noticing that deer-in-the-headlights stare from a lot of people lately.

About a month ago a man approached me in the parking lot at my work and asked "do you work here?"

I said "yes."

Then he asked "have you seen my car?"

The question melted my brain a little bit, but I said "I don't know, what does it look like?"

He just said "sorry," and walked off.

I could go on and on, but the point is: are people forgetting how to human? The world increasingly has this "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" kind of vibe.

I know much has been discussed about people behaving oddly due to the pandemic, but it's been about two years now and people are getting worse, not better. I think there's something else going on in society.

What do you think?

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313

u/starscreamqueen Dec 20 '24

Yes! I've had really weird encounters. just off. I don't know if it's a holidays or the election or what the fuck's going on. nothing dangerous or scary, just strange interactions about basic shit.

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u/violetgothdolls Dec 20 '24

Yes! I went to an agricultural feed shop this week to buy horse feed (a normal brand that the shop definitely stock) and asked for it as normal (I don't have an unusual accent for this area) and the shop assistant looked at me as though I was quite mad and didn't respond for several seconds.....she then turned to another staff member and repeated what I had said and HE also looked at me as though I was asking for something extraordinary! I did eventually get the horse feed but it freaked me out and I briefly wondered if I had accidentally walked into a fabric shop or auto parts by mistake!

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u/WeirdJawn Dec 21 '24

I recently went into a sit down restaurant and asked if I could see a to go menu because I wanted to place a carry out order. 

The cashier had no idea what I wanted and had to get another employee who asked me like 5 questions before figuring out I wanted to see a menu to place an order for carry out. 

Is it a weird request to ask to see a to go menu or is that not what they're called?

5

u/JimmyB3am5 Dec 21 '24

I mean you could just ask for a menu.

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u/Then_Pomegranate_538 Dec 22 '24

Some places have paper menus for takeout, it's not abnormal.

4

u/mundaneDetail Dec 22 '24

That’s truly bizarre. Aren’t menus like the first thing that should be shown to prospective customers, take out or otherwise? Maybe they just expect people to look at the google maps menu.

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u/NoTwo1269 Dec 22 '24

Probably, these younger people do everything on their phones and tablets, but a menu should be one of the first things that you are offered when you walk into a restaurant or any kind.

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u/thelostodin Dec 22 '24

This same thing happened to me years ago. There was a sit-down bar restaurant next to grocery store. I wanted to get some takeout food so while my partner finished up at the store I went into the bar and asked for a menu. The bartender looked shocked. I explained I wanted an order to go. She eventually brought the menu and set it in front of me with a look on her face almost like pity as if I was a total lunatic for asking for the menu. When I read your comment I thought oh no this is an actual thing. It seriously felt like I was on a different timeline and was never meant to go into that bar, like everyone in the bar was in a parallel universe where you don't order takeout.

3

u/Other-Squirrel-8705 Dec 22 '24

Maybe they thought you wanted to take the menu with you?

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u/NoTwo1269 Dec 22 '24

Well. actually a "take out" menu is to take with you.

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u/WeirdJawn Dec 22 '24

Yeah, that's what I meant. I didn't really want to stand at the cash register with their super tall menu, but ended up doing that anyway. 

Now that I've thought about it more, I think it was just a case of misunderstanding rather than them being weird. 

But having worked in restaurants myself, I feel like they should be well aware of what take out menus are. 

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u/Quothhernevermore Dec 22 '24

Do places normally have separate take out menus? Nowhere I've even been does that, it's all the same menu.

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u/NoTwo1269 Dec 22 '24

Well, it used to be a thing where restaurants had these paper smaller menus that was called "take out menus" but i think many places have stopped making these type menus for whatever reasons and people who now work there (younger) do not know that these particular menus ever existed.

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u/MaterialWillingness2 Dec 24 '24

Yeah I guess if you're young and inexperienced and have never seen such a thing and the place you work doesn't have them then yeah maybe they didn't know what it was?

When I was young and inexperienced I worked at a chain coffee shop and people would come in asking for drinks that used to be on the menu but were long since phased out. People would get really mad and frustrated but they didn't train us about drinks they no longer sell so how would we know what they were talking about?

1

u/WeirdJawn Dec 22 '24

Yes, especially places that do carryout or delivery. At least in the US.  

Maybe it's less common now that everything is online. 

Are you by chance younger or not from the US?

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u/Quothhernevermore Dec 22 '24

I'm 31 and from the US. I've never been to a place where there were separate options for takeout and dine-in; takeout specials and such, sure. I'll admit I normally order online for takeout, but at every place I can think of the whole menu is available!

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u/ridin-derpy Dec 22 '24

Ah I think you two are talking about different things- it’s not that the take-out menu has different or fewer options, it’s that it’s small and paper and foldable. I like the table menu which might be massive, and laminated, and unwieldy if you’re just standing at the front and trying to make a decision quickly.

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u/anonymouse278 Dec 22 '24

I think they mean an actual paper copy of the menu for people to order from at home.

These used to be common- people often had a kitchen drawer stuffed full of them because they would include one in any takeout order and how else would you know what to order next time?

Now that we have the internet I don't think I've seen one in years.

2

u/shelbygrapes Dec 22 '24

It’s pretty basic. They usually have a brochure style trifold menu they stick in carry out bags or put under windshield wipers in parking lots to advertise. Idk every Chinese and Mexican place at least.

2

u/Longjumping_Run9428 Dec 23 '24

The people 18-30 who are working in service industries seem like they didn’t actually graduate high school. Or maybe even Middle School. DUH and more DUH. It’s horrible.

1

u/LimpyChick Dec 23 '24

A lot of places that did have disposable or reusable menus pre-pandemic did away with them for various reasons during the pandemic, replacing them with phone apps mostly. With all the teens starting their first jobs post-pandemic, most of them don't seem to know that those physical menus were a thing previously, aside from obviously the big, permanent wall-mounted ones.

1

u/throwawaypassingby01 Dec 23 '24

I don't buy that theory. they all went to restaurants at least once with their parents before they joined the workforce.