"Brimstone" wrote:

But there again, running a model shop you're meeting only those people who
*want* to be there and are induging in their hobby (unless they're buying a
prezzie or somesuch). On that basis I would suggest that you will almost
always be dealing with people who are pleasant and polite.

That's very true. Having worked in a hotel in Torquay (no, not THAT
hotel!) I found the customers extremely pleasant because they were
(almost) all having a good holiday. Later, working in a hi-fi shop, I
found that people enjoyed choosing and buying equipment, and only
became difficult when things went wrong - although experience told me
that these were the best opportunities to give exceptional customer
service and thereby ensure long term customer loyalty.

In my printing business, customers were rarely difficult - except
sometimes when I insisted on being paid. But working behind the
counter in my own Post Office was a real experience.

Now that pensions and allowances are paid directly into people's bank
accounts, most Post Office transactions are distress purchases.
No-one wants to have to buy stamps or tax their car. The result is
unhappy customers, and no amount of politeness and charm will cheer
them up. Believe me, I tried!

I suspect rail customers are much the same.

The fares cost a lot of money by European standards. The trains are
often packed to the seams and beyond. Having to travel with "those
dreadful people" as Stephen Norris so accurately put it, is stressful
in itself. No wonder rail passengers are such a glum lot. No-one
wants to be there, and it shows.

The staff cannot do much to change this. The fares, the overcrowded
trains and the inevitable delays mean that whatever rail staff do, the
passengers remain miserable. There is no tangible reward for being
nice to such people. Couple this with having to deal with fare
evaders and other various antisocial behaviour, and the job would test
the patience of anyone.

However, there does seem to be a significant proportion of rail staff
who appear to take delight in making the passenger's lot even more
unpleasant than it already is. There is no possible excuse for this,
other than the fact that the people who work on the railways include
many who would not find work in other sectors of the economy.