JudasIscariot: An employer who refuses to let an employee pick up their child from school can face severe legal consequences in most countries. I am not sure of the rules on this offhand but I know that that some sort of protection for the employee exists in a capitalist system.

The bank employee scenario can easily be avoided by the customer standing firm and saying "NO!" every once in a while as you are always going to have people attempting to manipulate you into something you don't need. See just about every department store clerk :) It's called "sales", it's done everywhere, and the onus of responsibility lies on the consumer to prevent themselves being manipulated by a savvy clerk or sales employee.

Also, under a capitalist system the aforementioned employee with the child has the choice of changing jobs if they find the employer to be unbearable.