In this economy

Man I hate that phrase, it has become a stock opening sentence like "I'm not racist but..." or "In a post 9/11 world".  Its one of those things you say that is pointless to start your story and gets put onto all kinds of things that don't fit.  But I'm using it here so fuck me right? Well it half fits in this case.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of March 2010, California has an unemployment rate of 12.5% the USA as a whole has an unemployment rate of 9.7% (link) so here's the question:

Why don't more people give a fuck about their job?

In a state where people are still losing jobs how can people still get away with giving lousy customer service?  Now I'm not talking about leaving you on hold too long or packing your groceries wrong, things that are subjective, I'm not even talking about government employees who are almost impossible to fire.  I'm talking about the woman at staples who yells across the room while serving me that she doesn't understand why she has to work late.  I'm talking about the woman at the craft store who grunts and acts surly.  I'm talking about the guy who acts like you imposed on him asking where something is like that's not his job.  I'm talking about the guy who cannot make a sandwich including all 5 items that are on the printed sheet of paper in front of him.

I understand that in a good economy it can be hard to find people to fill vacancies but you hear stories of janitor positions having 400 applicants, there are people who want jobs and people who have jobs that obviously couldn't care less.

Is it because people are hard to fire? Is it because there aren't people actually looking for work? Or is it because as a society we have become so used to this "meh" attitude that we don't expect better?

What do you think?