The Mitchell and Webb Situation - Mr. Jeffries

WHY DIDN'T I WORK TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER?

[@JaketheBakedSsnake]

This guy is working 3 jobs, no wonder he doesn't have money problems!

[@GrimmJob-h4l]

Jake don't people who have to work 3 jobs usually have money problems, though?

[@HocusFocusProductions]

No. They have free time problems, but rarely money problems. They don't even have time to spend it. (I worked one full time, one part time and two freelance jobs my first year out of college).

[@thehigherman9918]

Hocus Focus Productions how?

[@dannis8552]

...and meanwhile, the people who didn't get either of the other 2 jobs are penalised *REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE

[@Deathmastertx]

@@dannis8552 That's not really how economies work. There's not like a finite number of jobs. More work = more production = compensation to pay for other things which require people to work.

[@SilverShadows88]

Love it. Really hits the whole middle class combination of snobbery and guilt on the head.

[@Samuel-by1zg]

Mitchel is so good at it. He has the champagne socialist archetype to a tee.

[@GeneralViewing-ne9eo]

"I feel so bad about my privilege. Obviously I'm not going to surrender my privilege. I wouldn't go that far. No, I'm just going to feel bad about it. And make a big deal about it. And make everyone feel uncomfortable about it".

[@GeneralViewing-ne9eo]

The best one of this is in Peep Show when Jez is getting all chummy with the builder, and they even get talking about music and the builder plays the drums so they end up having an impromptu jam. Then the builder says it's getting late and he has to go home but he'll come and finish the job the next day. Jeremy then says "Look, I'M THE BOSS, YOU'RE THE WORKER. I ORDER YOU TO FINISH THE JOB!" (turning his vaguely marxist beliefs on their head, because he can). The builder says "Oh, it's like that is it?!" and smashes up the the work he's done and storms off. The point of course being Jeremy's awful middle class combination of snobbery and guilt - and hypocrisy and selfishness.

[@ProudToBeNoob]

This is exactly how I felt as a child and in my early teens.

[@flippanties]

I'm in my 20s and these are still my inner thoughts. I blame having done retail and technical call centre jobs. Babysitting customers was always frustrating, I don't like other people waiting on me hand and foot.

[@wilmer89]

toxic shame

[@randomgirlxoxoxo]

I still feel like this I’m 22. How TF do I get over it?:|

[@diptimangautam5533]

I am 25 and I feel like this all the time. Doesn't help that I live in a third world country.

[@woottastic]

I just turned thirty, and am proud to say i no longer give a shit.

[@cl9282]

This is how I imagine David Mitchell is in general.

[@ulture]

nah, he's far too secure in his belief that capitalism is inherently fair to be like this. This is him parodying patronising liberals who suspect there's something exploitative about capitalism but don't know what to do about it or have any interest in actually understanding why they feel like they do

[@gianlucapardelli2791]

@@ulture I guess he personally told you that, didn't he?

[@dig8634]

@@gianlucapardelli2791 I'm pretty sure he does believe capitalism can be fair, but all the rest seems to be extrapolations beyond the reasonable

[@jpa_fasty3997]

@@dig8634 Well what angle do you think they're going for? Ed Peck is exactly right, they're parodying patronising liberals who treat working mans jobs like some injustice or exploitation. That trade-off of snobbery and sympathy---where it is completely undue

[@dig8634]

@@jpa_fasty3997 That is an interpretation of the sketch, but it doesn't actually have to have anything to do with liberals. Just because you believe this personality fits perfectly onto liberals does not mean Mitchell is of the same opinion.

[@him050]

I was getting tailored for a suit once and that was bad enough. Then when he brought some shoes he unlaced them and knelt down to do the laces up for me. I had never been so uncomfortable in my life.

[@r.alexander9075]

Oh yeah i wouldve done it myself. Being waitered in a restaurant is to me quite different than someone undoing my shoes

[@DeathnoteBB]

@@r.alexander9075 Eh when it’s your job you prefer to do it properly yourself than watch everyone fumble over it for minutes

[@AdamantLightLP]

It's the person's job. They get paid to do it. I don't get why people have such issues with this stuff.

[@him050]

@@AdamantLightLP yeah I know, I still find it awkward though

[@davidmurphy563]

To be fair, he was probably uncomfortable about ripping you off. Awkward situation all round. The solution is to move to Liverpool and wear shell suits.

[@AMPATL]

I actually do feel that way (not as intensely obviously...) when I'm at posh places. I _hate_ being waited on and fawned over.

[@scw55]

I used to. Then I started working as a till worker in a shop. Now I realise service workers want interesting things to happen.

[@Polaf3456]

You shouldn't feel that bad about it, if you are a polite and considerate person yourself. I worked in retail, and it gave me pride in my job to make people happy, as long as they were as polite as I were. There is nothing wrong with a customer asking for help or being helped.

[@tomzjamz]

are you American?

[@DjangoClouds]

Ditto. I'm really uncomfortable with the idea of servitude.

[@GMovieSeeker]

Totally agree. I always say thank you and compliment customer service people who make an effort. People who treat personnel like they're their servants are the scum of earth.

[@someguy3766]

I have never seen a more amusing portrayal of snobbish yet well-meaning upper middle class guilt. Really good stuff, lol.

[@deanbutcher557]

you are the snob

[@Kradiancy]

Whilst basic manners are always necessary in social situations, the point of this sketch is that trying to make the client-servant relationship friendly and informal usually ends up having the opposite effect. Forced interaction is much worse than polite acknowledgement.

[@cheydinal5401]

Absolutely agreed

[@mfzoom5401]

It’s not always the client who tries to interact on a personal level, either.

[@oscarhaydenperditionbound1195]

To me this is actually one of Mitchell and Webb's darkest sketches.

[@aconcretemoth9382]

its both satirizing and affirming the whole white guilt thing and it's great

[@GeneralViewing-ne9eo]

@@aconcretemoth9382 white? It's middle class guilt lol. I'm sure white guilt is much the same thing, but I think that's more of an American thing.

[@lettuce141]

2:49 "Yes, I'm looking for a gift for my aunt."

[@jugsy7305]

Classic lol 😂 ✌️ 👍

[@tomutwit]

thats how i feel all the time

[@McSuperfly101]

Mmmmmmm... ass burgers

[@wildthornrose]

That awkward moment when you feel oddly attracted to Robert Webb as a spectacle-wearing, gum-chewing, vaguely-cockney taxi driver....

[@komala94]

wildthornrose Yes ! I felt it too!!!

[@lp9931]

Wth lol😂

[@GM-zy3xj]

well, he looks hot

[@skrinkle2000]

I have worked in public service including some just 'serivce' jobs my whole Life. Being overly or insistingly friendly with people who are just trying to do their job creates a great deal of tension when the worker is busy-the 'polite' customer takes it very personally.The middle class guilt also comes out in trying to make conversation where none is needed- especially when you don't feel the need to leave a tip.You are not kind, just needy and it takes more energy to adjust to your personality.

[@r.alexander9075]

Okay, so what youre saying is just straight to business eh? Be polite but not needy

[@ItalianoVeroAceHigh]

@@r.alexander9075 correct. By all means, be polite, kind and well mannered. But don't act like you're unworthy or un-wanting of the service. In the end, you're just one of the 100s or 1,000s of people that form part of the job.

[@cheydinal5401]

I completely agree. As a service worker (cashier), the best social interactions while doing a service job are the ones that happen to feel personal *even though neither side is really trying* to make it personal. Whether because something unexpected happens and you happen to have an honest emotional reaction to that and open up, or because you just happen to feel like opening up because you like the person As a customer, feel free to unintrudingly *offer* to the worker to make your relationship more personal, but don't force them into a situation where they're made to feel like a dick if they "leave you hanging"

[@limerence8365]

This is actually a very nuanced skit. Mitchell's character feels so uncomfortable asking these people to perform the jobs they were given to perform because he fears he is coming off as an entitled ass. However by acting so uncormfortable about it all especially in regards to 'are you in college, are you an actor, do you have money problems' he'd implying there is something wrong with those jobs and coming off as an entitled ass. In other words he's terrified of forcing someone else to perform a demeaning task for him, but his actions in response to that implies that he thinks that the task is demeaning, which makes the situation worse than it actually is for him and for the servor where all would have been fine if he just respected the professional relationship.

[@gtimes03]

lol

[@rhysevans4537]

Well done, hard code to crack that one but by god you did it.

[@cheydinal5401]

@@rhysevans4537 These types of comments are utterly useless and annoying. Yours I mean

[@rhysevans4537]

@@cheydinal5401 much like the original then, nice little roundabout

[@PrismTheKid]

I didnt think that comment was snide or sarcastic, it is true he deconstructed the sketch correctly I think

[@EdgeZombie]

"A person who is nice to you, but not nice to the Waiter, is not a nice person at all."

[@blissfularrogance]

Never a truer word said.

[@ChrisKerel]

This is my favorite video of all time. It combines comedy and tragedy while teaching a very, very valuable lifelesson. Brilliant.

[@bankzie]

that guy changed job roles from a waiter to a taxi driver pretty quickly

[@Tyronejizz]

and barhroom valet

[@JDLupus]

That's the beauty of Mitchell and Webb... they're experts at voicing the inner thoughts that many of us have, often at the subconcious level. Btw I'm the 159th person to let you know that you're not alone :)

[@will6176]

🙂

[@Chrischn89]

That's what it's like to have social anxiety! You think you can clearly read other peoples' thoughts and in circumstances where you happen to cause even the slightest trouble or discomfort to another person it is CLEAR to you that they must hate you for doing so. That constant feeling of being judged for everything you do or do not, is what causes you to be extremly conscious about everything in social situations which at the end of the day causes anxiety by not wanting to make a mistake while keeping up this whole charade. It's really tiresome...

[@dairebarefoot9320]

Chrischn89 That’s just a severe lack of confidence and being overly self-conscious. I used to be paranoid like that at times.

[@synapticburn]

yeah everybody is worried about their own problems, quit thinking you have such power over people and get on with it, no one is mad at you

[@synapticburn]

@@tombombadill6159 cool. sounds boring, but I won't be coming to your forest anyway Tom Bombadill

[@r.alexander9075]

@@synapticburn why not? He can save you from eviiiil

[@cheilith1031]

​@@dairebarefoot9320 uh ok, but it also can be a symptom of social anxiety. it's like saying to someone who's had depression for many years that it's just a phase and will pass because you yourself were depressed for a few weeks in college. very rude to say this person doesn't have social anxiety, you have no idea.

[@mitchellele]

this is basically an inner monologue of my day, suspecting that everybody working around me actually hates me

[@viridismonasteriense]

It's weird how Mr Jeffries seems both selfish and selfless in this. He wants to treat these people well, but at the same time he looks down on them for being working class. He even pretends to be interested in their lives so he asks questions (because of societal pressure?). He's desperate not to be a snob, but at the same time thinking that they need his help is somewhat snobbish. In the end I think he just wants to clear his conscience for joining the system' as he put it, & eat his cake too.

[@lravenl]

Am I the only one attracted to Robert's gentle voice as a waiter? Esp. that 'I beg your pardon' when David started speaking in the first sketch.

[@cheydinal5401]

"How's your fami- ... I'm trying to show I'm interested: How's your family?" Brilliant lol

[@galexeqe]

1:34 Love Rob's "Well I wasn't planning to........but......" look as he walks away

[@luciditywaling]

As a former service worker, I used to like getting BIG tips out of guilt. It really works!

[@SilverSpade92]

I like to think that Robert Webb's character is intentionally chaning jobs to ensure consecutive encounters with Mr. Jefferies, in some sort of attempt at gaslighting.

[@LordKingKamiGuru]

I think it's about him looking down at people working these jobs.

[@LCdrDerrick]

Once I bought a suit in a shop and the vendor insisted on kneeling down and tie my - or the shops - shoes for me. It was so embarrasing and degrading for both of us, but only in my perception. "I don't need you wiping my ass for me, I'm a grown man!"

[@GeneralViewing-ne9eo]

1:30 "In every single person there's a Slim Shady lurkin'...." 🎸🎸🎸🎸

[@limerence8365]

This isn't how I feel about people providing a service for me but it's exactly how I feel when its my birthday. The whole idea of "I'm not that special, why go through the discomfort of treating me special for this one day."

[@AdamantLightLP]

Because everyone celebrates birthdays? You are special in that you are you, and woo hoo, you lived another year! Your loved ones are happy.

[@SuperSquishface]

This is actually how I have always felt about waiters...when it's not fine dining or super busy I usually take my used dishes to the counter...

[@beachboss7320]

when people do that i think there tryna avoid paying a tip lol

[@SuperSquishface]

beachboss Don't have tips in my country

[@SuperSquishface]

.

[@jonathanshaw6784]

+The Joker what kind of restaurants do you take your dishes to the counter? Most restaurants I find the waiters have cleared up well before we leave (or there is just coffee).

[@SuperSquishface]

Jonathan Shaw Busy ones.

[@valdeviscosa9859]

All the people saying "this is how I feel in those situations", do you not realise that this sketch is mocking you?

[@ondrejvasak1054]

Sometimes it seems David Mitchel literally has the exact same thoughts as me. 😀

[@wanderingrandomer]

A little light reading before bed was just what I needed XD

[@greenman3464]

“An Inspector Calls” isn’t a reference you hear very often 😂

[@candyman9635]

english lit flashbacks

[@soupisgoodfood923]

@@candyman9635 oh god why remind me of English class

[@kurm7161]

This is just basically peep show if Mark Corrigan spewed out all his internal monologues to let other people hear him

[@winstonmartinez6284]

This is so good. Exactly how 'working class' people would feel about the elite condescension implicit every time they they talk about.. the working class.

[@boatman6865]

I feel a bit that way also, especially when I stay in 5 star hotels in the US with work. I hate the fawning attention and constant unease over tipping

[@cheydinal5401]

1:49 Note how he tosses Robb's belonging on the ground in an effort to sit there to show him how much he respects him

[@AbdallahBiri]

this is how i feel on daily basis :(

[@bubblezovlove7213]

Brilliant alone, brilliant as a duo... 😎

[@cheydinal5401]

As a service worker (cashier), the best social interactions while doing a service job are the ones that happen to feel personal *even though neither side is really trying* to make it personal. Whether because something unexpected happens and you happen to have an honest emotional reaction to that and open up, or because you just happen to feel like opening up because you like the person As a customer, feel free to unintrudingly *offer* to the worker to make your relationship more personal, but don't force them into a situation where they're made to feel like a dick if they "leave you hanging"

[@dannycolverson6944]

I'm a mini cab driver and this happens a lot. They always ask if this my only job, like they can't bear to accept that someone could only drive for a living. Happens literally every couple of days. Except in Bromley where chavy people in large detached houses get a slight kick out of telling me how much money I haven't got 😅

[@Hrafnhistorical]

That is completely absurd, but so adorable.

[@JarrodCook93]

When you’re a well off person then you spend an hour watching Breadtube videos.

[@hi_mom_im_on_youtube]

@Lemon Meringue lmao

[@Football__Junkie]

This is my inner monologue in restaurants nowadays

[@michalchik]

Well, said. I get the impression that here in the US the situation is diverse but the conditions on average is much worse.

[@____uncompetative]

This is how I feel in restaurants and taxis.

[@d-logan5280]

That you're better than them and their jobs are to be looked down on and pitied?

[@thagrammarnazi]

This is what happens when everyone you've ever met in your life looks like slightly-altered versions of Robert Webb, excluding the fact that dating would be a nightmare, you'd still inevitably go mental.

[@TheJeffries7]

How have I never seen this video before!

[@robatfreedomhouse]

This is perfect

[@Galliao]

That poor man having to work three jobs

[@captainsanchez4829]

This is exactly my thought process on acid, social anxiety that you make the other person feel bad

[@lolkhjort]

Thank you and let me return the compliment straight away, yours is an interesting perspective too. :) Indeed there may be some truth to the idea that clients are 'simply' (although it isn't a simple process) projecting... Also, the whole idea of a paid job being exploitation seems to rest on the misunderstanding that if you're getting paid for something, you don't have the choice of not doing it. Yet very seldom IRL is anyone in so much money trouble that they can't afford to say no.

[@GeneralViewing-ne9eo]

This character: "I feel so bad that you're having to do a menial job for me".

[@tomaaron6187]

I can now admit that I want to clear my own table at a restaurant…and volunteer to help with the dishes.

[@cringememes3515]

Brilliant

[@Tugboatpb]

People actually think this way now, absolutely spot on

[@matthewviv3285]

Robert Webb is such a great actor. His taxi driver is so nonchalant 😂

[@falaicha]

I feel exactly like this when I hop on the human pulled/cycled rickshaw.

[@manfrombritain6816]

This is straight from bruiser. I kept expecting david to suddenly shout "I'M NOT A PEDO!"

[@255ad]

they still don't deserve it and it's pain in the ass to remember

[@PhilJonesIII]

If you had someone change your diapers as a baby then you should be able to accept a waiter pouring your wine. We all serve each other.

[@Pining_for_the_fjords]

I usually sit in the front of taxis and chat with the driver. They're usually very friendly people and it's never been a problem. Though if - and it's never happened before - the front seat was full of litter or anything else, I'd take that as a sign and sit in the back.

[@someknave]

I have never seen a better expression of middle class guilt.

[@lolkhjort]

@Dancingwithotters Yes, in Denmark where I live it is. It's legal in several other countries too, but I don't have a comprehensive list handy. :)

[@LottLottie]

This is the true David, I suspect. So sweet.

[@petergibson2035]

It is not sweet. It is all about him worrying about himself and not about respecting a person's work.

[@heathcotepursuit8]

Now flip to the bad waiter sketch to glimpse a world where Mitchell is the waiter and Webb the customer.

[@Liusila]

Well, then good news! Your reported unawareness of this consensus of awkwardness shows how excellent everybody is at disguising it!

[@lame0471]

I wonder if the music playing in the restaurant is a "smooth jazz" version of the theme from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". And I wonder if it's intentional.

[@PlayerTwoHasJoined]

I'm not on about me, I'm on about the people who serve you.

[@smaakjeks]

Is there a word to describe seemingly selfish altruism? Let me explain: I don't want to be served, because it feels uncomfortable. There are different levels to this, of course, with some more extreme than others. Bellhops carrying my luggage, as an example. Yet, I know that this is their job, and if nobody wishes to be served in such a way, then they won't have a job anymore. So, despite my actual aversion to having someone carry my bags, I allow it. Which means someone does a task I should be perfectly capable of doing myself, and I get to be that much more lazy. A seemingly selfish action, but not done for a selfish reason. If I were truly selfish, I would carry the bag myself, because that would make me feel better about myself (selfish goal), and the detriment is that this person would have less of a reason to work there. I think it would be selfish to have someone fired merely so I can feel good about myself.

[@darkprose]

Brilliant.

[@checkeredcheese]

Idk why but that last has me crying 😂

[@christopherhare6446]

These guys are genius.

[@Dunlop1996]

Admittedly, he never said if he’d spit in his food or not

[@discord20]

I'm often pretty oblivious to these unspoken rules, so half the time I forget and sit in the front. It's never been a problem for me either.

[@cheydinal5401]

At least in Germany around where I live, people actually do often sit in the fromt seat in taxis, and chat with the driver

[@dreed100]

You can say it like that of course but I would say that you will simply see how it is to interact with people who provide your wages instead of, currently the other, way around. Not being biased just learning more on how the social interactions work.

[@yoganandavalle]

Sometimes I feel just like this, although I react less neurotically

[@nzjustin8420]

I believe this is what it's like for Guardian readers to interact with the world.

[@255ad]

giving people something for nothing goes beyond being nice

[@OrchestraOfWolves46]

mitchell reminds me of moss from IT crowd in this one

[@opinionday0079]

I am extraordinarily wealthy and this is exactly how I feel when I have to deal with the lower classes

[@dpclerks09]

How prescient. Strange times, indeed.

[@255ad]

it costs time and does require effort if you're not naturally polite

[@255ad]

I just ignore their presence, is that so hard to cope with?

[@timrthoward7007]

how is it like an inspector calls

[@Paul_The_Spaceman]

TimRT Howard read it and find out.

[@h4724-q6j]

How is it not?

[@chrisfoxwell4128]

It's both amusing and sad to see so many comments that don't understand what is actually happening. While some is middle class guilt, it's mostly seeing those professions as beneath them and beneath anyone with any intelligence and look upon them with pity as they aren't capable of directing their own lives. They often look at different classes of people in the same manner.

[@mattl1962]

So true!

[@255ad]

I think they where pointing out the lunacy of feeling this way not saying they actually feel this way them selves

[@GenericPurpleTurtle]

That's exactly how I feel when I'm in restaurants, I'm not even joking. I thought I was the only one!!!

[@QuannanHade]

Wait, you're not meant to sit in the front of a Taxi? But that's what you do in Australia.

[@SuperSquishface]

+QuannanHade Either way.

[@krim7]

+QuannanHade That's just weird. The front is the Taxi driver's work space. You sit in the back.

[@fabse64]

+krim7 I haven't once sat in the back of a taxi when I was the only passenger. And no taxi driver has ever complained about it. To be fair though, I didn't toss their stuff on the floor before taking a seat.

[@VultureClone]

+krim7 I've never sat in the back of a taxi. It's fucking weird.

[@WralthChardiceVideo]

Not here in europe anyways

[@255ad]

Thanking people for everything they do shouldn’t be considered politeness

[@ptronic]

This should be a surrealist movie!

[@martinknaus7709]

Has anyone else noticed that when Jeffries begs the waiter not to spit in his food the waiter doesn't say anything?

[@olracsobi8352]

Why does the waiter make such a funny face?!

[@petergibson2035]

Because the customer is disrespecting his job by making such a fuss. The customer is thinking only of his own insecurities and not letting the waiter do a job he is obviously quite comfortable and contented doing.

[@olracsobi8352]

@@petergibson2035 No, he is just speaking out the sad truth, he is very brave in this.

[@UnOxonien]

I think the point of the sketch is the opposite of this; people hung up about service relationships are imaginging an injustice that isn't really there. It's not the relationship between a serf and a suzerain, it's a professional relationship that would be enjoyable if people nowadays would only relax and let themselves be served. Someone eating an expensive meal pretending he and the waiter are 'mates' is condescending, since one is paying the other for a job he should be able to take pride in.

[@garethwilkins6744]

This is what social anxiety feels like.

[@pauljordan4452]

Mitchell doesn't realise that ordinary people had the possibility to be waited on like kings. That's why restaurants developed.

[@255ad]

being nice to someone because you expect gratitude is not being nice