We are all humans ,I think those that think workers should be able to stand (or whatever ) are just talking about kindness to employees !

This chat could take place either side of the pond ,don't you think ?

There are MANY things Americans do better ,this not .

I think it is natural to compare ,and I know for a fact Americans are not immune to the same behavior in their host country .

Humans ...

One way of looking at it I guess Humans will be humans no matter where you come from

The reason why many Brits log onto BE is so they can have a good old moan about their adopted country. You're not a Brit...that's why you don't understand.

And short chairs. For the record, everybody at my bank has a chair.

Go Texas!

I always thought Texans were a bit different....

Have you ever had to sit in a small cubicle for 8 hours (with exception to a lunch break, etc) with no option to get up and stand to do a job? Just sit and scan groceries for that long?

Absolutely.

I knew quite a few Americans in the UK and every time we went out all they could talk about was how small the roads were and how they couldn't get the right jelly for their PBJ's. Or should I have said they would "moan", "whinge", "whine", instead of "talk"which are the words that would have been used had it been a Brit pointing out a difference here... I guess we could have come over all righteous and offended (, how dare they talk about their host country like that!) but instead we just grinned and took the piss out of their lack of driving ability and diet choices. No-one got upset about it - I think everyone accepted that when you go to a different country things are going to be....errm different(!) and one of the ways of dealing with that is to talk about it. Always amazes me how thin skinned some people can be on here.......seems to me that if you come on an expat website, you're going to encounter discussions about differences!

I am not sure I am getting your point ?

Options for people is my focus here .

In the UK (and other places ) the chair is there , you are able to stand up and continue working if you so desire .

The cubicle bit ?...please explain .

Thank you

Our bank has pretty cool chrome and leather bar stool type jobbies with a hydraulic lift so they can swivel from the low desk in the middle to the high counter at the drive through lane without changing chairs. Very ingenious, way of getting around the dipstick office architect who made their work stations different heights

Well said.

Were you standing in a checkout job at 9 months pregnant though?

Yeah, my bank's chairs are way swanky.

Not the $99 crapola from Home Depot that I have to use.

One of the first jobs I had in the UK was working at Morrison's as a checkout person. We had to sit in a cubicle (this was the only job we were hired to do) and scan groceries. The cubicle was so small that you could not stand (with the chair in the cubicle as well) to do the scanning. While no one told us we had to sit down, there was little option. Besides the problem of being cooped up in a cubicle and sitting (this was even worse when it was slow, then you had to listen to the incessant loop of music and read the ads on the wall for excitement....) there was nothing else to do. I didn't see very many happy checkout people around me. I managed to find an administrative assistant job after 4 months, so I wasn't there too long.

However, after I had my daughter, I didn't want to put her into childcare, so I went to work at Sainsburys in the evenings. I can say they had better options for their checkout people. You could either stand or sit ( I stood most times because sitting and scanning actually hurts) and they wanted you to interact with the customers. If it was slow they would have you go and help stock groceries. It wasn't fantastic work, but keeping busy always helps to pass the time.

My goodness Sally, not everyone can take to their beds after the eighth month of pregnancy.