Retail, fast food, and every general public service job far in between is not for the weak. The daily interactions employees of these corporations have to endure lights a fire of anger in me. No one should be screaming at a minimum wage teenage worker because their burger accidentally had pickle on it or they forgot their sauce.
I work at a local ice cream shop and have dealt with this treatment first hand. I’ve watched my female coworkers get screamed at to the point of tears over an imaginary chicken tender basket they thought they ordered or a sundae that had “too little caramel.” We as teenage employees get it… you’ve had a long day at your crappy job and all you have to look forward to is filling that emptiness at the end of the night with some fries and a cheeseburger, but that shouldn’t come at the cost of our feelings.
Many of these middle-aged men or cranky ladies who swear don’t take into account that many of us are waking up at six in the morning, going to school for seven hours, then working a five-hour shift, and finally going home to a backpack full of homework. Half these high schoolers are also running on maybe six hours of sleep, so yeah, we might forget to add nuts to your hot fudge once and a while.
Through these difficult situations all you really have to do is just laugh at it and make fun of how embarrassing they are behaving. “Awww so sorry you can’t sub out a blizzard for a meal pop!?” Like, these people don’t have common sense. You truly just have to feel bad for these people. However, I do understand when you are paying you should get what you expected but these people are fighting with 17 year olds over the most minor inconveniences. Many of my coworkers cope with customers’ unnecessary aggression by bringing the same energy; some freeze; and some try not to laugh like me. If there ever is a mess up or something is forgotten, politely bring it up to our attention with a smile and an awkward laugh.
Next time you have a bad day and decide to fill your feelings with food remember the people making your food also probably had a bad day. Cashiers, cooks, waitresses, and workers in between all are human too! Don’t treat us like robots and maybe we’ll throw in a free ice cream.
