Service and Retail work is often comprised of a countless micro-exchanges in a single day, and each interaction is intended to make a customer feel welcomed, appreciated, needed, and cared for. Instructional or Training videos are meant to teach working people how to “connect” with customers: how to smile; how to look; how to show you care with all the violent realities connection entails. “Gratitude” is the first part of “Desperate Creatures,” a series of videos which asks the viewer to consider how emotional labor is a specific form of labor which requires us to exploit our emotions, memories, and bodies.
