Working in customer service, restaurants specifically, is no easy task and is for sure not for the weak-minded. Although you meet many amazing and interesting people that you build relationships with, there are always people who are extremely inconsiderate of your feelings and anyone else working around you. I have had many instances where people are completely inconsiderate of my feelings while working. 

Speaking from my own personal experience, I have had countless encounters with rude and ill-mannered people. The most extreme and upsetting one that has happened to me was when a middle-aged man was screaming at me in front of four other tables. He was freaking out because I could not get him a table. The restaurant was packed, and we still had many, many reservations coming in, and all of my servers were overwhelmed. When the floor gets that busy, I cannot take walk-ins. I told him our options about seating at the bar or the other room, which has the same menu as the main side. 

As a result of all of the madness that happened, my boss basically told him to apologize to me or leave, in which case he gave me a careless apology. After people saw this older man screaming at a 16-year-old, I had many people come up to me and tell me how good of a job I was doing. Hearing these things from strangers makes me so happy because even though there are lots and lots of mean individuals in this world, we cannot forget about the good ones that do still exist. 

I am also not the only person who has ever experienced this kind of disrespect. Mackenzie Chamberlin (‘23), who also works in a restaurant, said she has had many encounters with rude customers and has even been cussed out by a customer over the phone. We need to work harder as a society to treat people who work in the customer service industry with an immense amount of more respect than what happens now.