[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Not to belabor the point, but I think you and Mizeree I2K are missing what folks are trying to say.

I know you have the vending machine business. If you shake a vending machine, it likely starts throwing things out of alignment and will mess up future transactions. When you go to service your machines and notice things look wacky, you may say "Gosh, why do people shake these machines? Now I have to spend time fixing it. I wish they knew what it took to fix these machines so they wouldn't shake them." Does that mean you want every person to own a vending machine at one point in their lives? No, of course not. But, in your state of venting, you do realize that someone who had a similar experience as you (read: owning the machine) would realize what it took to maintain it.

That's all folks are saying. "I wish this asshole knew what it was like being a cashier" is only saying "If you had been a cashier in the past, you probably wouldn't be an asshole right now" -- not "My job sucks and I wish you had to suffer the way I do every day"

This!

People tend to be more sympathetic toward one another when they've been through a similar experience. That's all.