Baskin Robbins, Pizza Street, M. Isabella’s, Panera, University Book Shop, The Kansan, KU Catering. Over the past seven years, I have worked a part-time job at each of these companies. Some for as many as three years, and one I just lasted five hours. However, I learned something from each of them, and while I didn’t always enjoy going to work (particularly to open Panera at 5 a.m.), I never begrudged the necessity of having a job.
Working as a student is invaluable. You meet people that don’t necessarily go to the same school or share the same interests. Part time jobs teach you social skills, the value of earning your own money, accountability, and flexibility.
That being said, in any restaurant or retail store you can tell the difference between a customer who has worked a similar job to a customer who has never been behind the counter. The majority of these people end up doing one or more of the following ignorant things. Here is what NOT to do when interacting with the nametag-adorned people behind the counter:
- Just don’t leave a tip, because we’re already getting paid, right? This is what we’re here for anyway.
- Blame us for things completely out of our control: prices, the way the food tastes, and the temperature of said establishment.
- Treat us like we’re less than you, like we’re not there, or like we don’t have the power to mess with the food we’re bringing you.
- Talk on the phone while we try to decipher between your conversation about how short Kim’s skirt was and how you don’t want your soup actually in the bread bowl.
- Tell us we’re wrong about the ingredients in the food item from the menu we had to memorize, and have been eating from the entire time we’ve worked there.
Being disrespectful to the people serving you food is arrogant. A black apron, polo shirt, or goofy hat is not an excuse to abuse or disregard someone.