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Something’s not right

jamesle2015
Senior Contributor

laughing - for what ???

Why do some annoying people laugh when then is nothing to laugh about?

I always experience this at work - something happens...could be a minor problem that is easily fixed

but the customer laughs for nothing

Is it a bad habit ? What I can't understand is where do people learn this from?

Sometimes if someone makes a negative comment - one of the other workers - then customer laughs

when they should keep quiet -

people who have worked in retail before will know what I mean

 

There was one time I saw a customer laugh - big bloke really 'big' laugh and he did it a few times

- because his son forgot something

 

Or you could have an annoying manager who 'laughs' everytime something goes wrong or

the customer makes a mistake - how could a manager laugh at a customer isn't that really inconsiderate?

 

Problem is not much I can do - when it happens you can't tell people not to do it because they will get upset or annoyed blah blah blah

 

 

8 REPLIES 8

Re: laughing - for what ???

hi @jamesle2015
some people laugh for various reasons, sometimes unknown to those around them. some people laugh due to nerves ie your manager laughs everytime something goes wrong- they are nervous about making mistakes.

Re: laughing - for what ???

I'm a person that laughs at lots of things, so I hope I'm not the type of person that you mean jamesle2015.

But in case I am, I'll just describe the reasons that I laugh at things (not at people though):
- when something goes wrong I find it diffuses tension to find the amusement in the situation
- It feels good to laugh, and shared laughter over a minor problem is a way that I feel connection with other people
- Finding things funny is just my natural reaction
- My parents were very big on "not taking yourself too seriously" so that would have rubbed off on me too
- When I make a mistake or run into minor trouble, finding the amusement in the situation helps me to not berate myself over what I did and turns it into a much better memory than it would be if I stayed thinking negatively about it

Re: laughing - for what ???

@jamesle2015  I laugh at some things but usually it is when i am very uncomfortable and feel threatend in a way for me it is a deffensive thing. like when you are watching a movie and the person trying to escape the bad guy goes "haha not me nope i think you have the wrong guy haha" it is a way to try and avoid either a bad feeling or to make things less scary. well for me anyway. also i guess people have different senses of humor which can have an effect. that said there are certain situations where i think it is never ok to laugh that being mostly laughing at someone who is clearly upset or embarrassed about something. usually it is just about reading social cues and knowing when is the right time for a certain response. laughing can also be a way to try and be friendly and to show that you arent upset with another person. like laughing it off in a way to try and make someone else feel less uncomfortable. but that is just my experience/opinion and you are free and valid to have yours. 

Is there a reason the laughing bothers you so much? 

Re: laughing - for what ???

To me laughing is ok in some situations e.g. if you are in a large group watching a stage performance

and they say something funny which is not offensive and everyone can relate to..

or if you are having a conversation with someone you know and there is something funny...

 

It is not ok in the workplace - for people who have worked in retail they would understand what I am getting at...

when you are at work you are doing your best - in my case I have to face the public...

when customers laugh it gets annoying because usually there is nothing funny about the situation..

e.g.  if they make a 'mistake' but they refuse to admit it they may laugh and then put the blame on the worker - when it is the customer's fault for not communicating clearly or not listening ....or not able to count properly - cash handling -then the customer will say 'i confused you' or whatever that kind of thing really annoys me but as a worker you can't do anything you can't confront them because the manager is there and you can't express your true feelings.....

 

yes when people laugh in workplace it is usually not the 'friendly' kind of laughter - it is usually

they are laughing at the worker's 'mistake'

Re: laughing - for what ???

i don't think manager is 'nervous' .... laughing at customer's 'mistakes' is not 'nervous' behaviour

i think it is inconsiderate - laughing at people and not caring about other people's feelings

i have observed this i don't think there is another way of looking at it

 

Re: laughing - for what ???

I can see this is greatly affecting you, do you think you could speak to your manager about this?

Re: laughing - for what ???

i understand - it depends partly on how your parents raised you

e.g. if your parents were very serious people who rarely laughed at anything it would be hard

to change to a 'laughing' person

 

but i think if people laugh too much and in the wrong situations e.g. in workplace

it gets annoying for the people around them - at work you could be doing something that needs

concentration or it's something you want to finish quickly so you can move on

 

the main thing is not to laugh at people's mistakes or laugh at them for some negative reason

laughing 'with' people is ok - as long as it doesn't offend anyone

 

Re: laughing - for what ???

no point he doesn't have any 'emotion' for worker's feelings -

we are a unit of work that is how he is 'programmed'

he is weird - he doesn't seem to remember some things like when someone is going on leave but can remember work related things like

he 'programmed' his brain to maximum level

i have to put up with it but i notice it doesn't happen a lot sometimes when it's quiet

depends on which customers are there

 

maybe sometimes the customers are worse - as with customers i don't know what i am going to get

sometimes

it's ok if they are regular ones and they are quite 'normal' in their behaviour

 

retail life is hard sometimes most people know that

 

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