u/JakePooler

I've come across more and more people in retail, front desks, telephone customer service etc... who look and sound like they can't be bothered, most of the times there's no "going the extra mile," no fake smiles, no fake interest, they just look sad, tired or mad.

Is it because the wages of those kind of jobs aren't enough for a decent life anymore?

Is it because companies are struggling to hire people so they hire anyone?

Or am I just a p-ick who thinks everyone is rude?

I live in the south west of England, I don't know, maybe up north you still got your friendly customer service.

I'm an Italian living in the UK.

I've noticed that people here don't generally seem to respect authority as much as people do where I'm from.

The public here don't seem to be scared of the Police, traffic wardens get abused on a daily basis.

People in charge end up being disliked and if you're in charge of something you can't get away with saying "that's the way I want it and that's the way it's gonna be," they always have to explain why they made a certain decision especially if it's an unpopular one, don't get me wrong, I know that people in charge do pretty much what they like here as well, but it's like here they have to "keep a façade" kinda thing and pretend they're listening to feedback from the people below them.

The auditors who end up making the officers do the walk of shame is something that when I tell my friends in Italy they're like "so they just get told off by a member of the public and they simply walk away?"

So, what's the reason?

Is it because the authority is softer here and some people take advantage of it?

Is it because the authority used to misbehave in the past and now you're getting your revenge?

Or is the way it should be and people should feel like they can insult and question authority as a human right sort of thing?

Or did I get the whole thing wrong and just low life people don't respect authority and they know there can be consequences but they're simply s-upid?

So, I've been promoting my books on TikTok and Instagram for years.

Recently I've come across more and more users complaining about how certain authors behave, the online community is super supportive and they go the extra mile to help us indie authors.

The problem (from what users told me) is that apparently some authors get confrontational if an ARC reader points out flaws in their books, also some authors offer to send a physical copy in exchange for a 5 star review, they insist that the review has to be a five stars regardless if the reviewer likes it or not.

When I contact new users they often warn me that they're honest more than ever before, some even told me "due to bad experiences with authors I'm not taking any more ARCs."