Don't Mess With People Who Handle Your Food

Do you know what I can’t stand? Waking up at 7 in the morning craving a delicious breakfast, only to find out I’m missing some critical ingredients like eggs or hot sauce. Now I have to get dressed, hop in my car, blast some heavy metal, and do all of this while being half-awake and fully hangry.

Do you know what’s even worse than that? When I’m finally in line to pay and have to wait 15 extra minutes because the person in front of me wants to have a fight with the cashier over something they can’t control.

Listen, I get it. We all have our bad days.

You probably have a million bills, stacks of laundry that need to be folded, your kids are probably ugly crying, and who knows what else you have on your plate.

However, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. I hope someone can engrave this on my sarcophagus before my corpse is shot out to space because it must serve as a friendly reminder to everyone for the rest of time.

If you go into a place of business to cause a scene because of a completely unrelated personal problem, then you should just stay home.

Consumers.

I don’t care how “bad” you’re having it. If you purposely go out of your way to spit your venom onto someone who’s being paid to be professional, respectful, and serve you in the friendliest manner possible to get you what you need, then you’re in the wrong.

Oh, you didn’t get enough napkins with your sandwich? The self-checkout machine ate your coins? You ordered something online and you got the wrong product at pick-up? Don’t be rude about it, work towards fixing it, and move on.

From a consumer standpoint if your issue is related to the products or services rendered, then go ahead and speak with someone to resolve the issue. Keyword: speak; no need to be dramatic. You gain nothing by shouting at the teenager working the cash registers at Target because they couldn’t scan your stack of expired coupons.

Do you know how many times I’ve asked people to not put cheese on my food and they still do it? You don’t see me kicking down doors, beating my chest, and demanding to speak to the manager. Why? Because you don’t have to be a rocket surgeon to figure out that people who handle your food are the last category of customer service employees you want to aggravate.

It’s already rude enough to pick fights with someone offering you a product or service, but it’s especially rude and completely counterproductive to aggravate people who have direct contact with your food, people who have access to your home address, and access to other sensitive details. (Credit card number, health information, phone number, etc.)

You probably don’t want to piss off your hairstylist or barber, unless you're a fan of walking with hair patches on your head and face.

You do understand that not everyone you try to bully into submission is going to sit there and take it on the chin, right?

You might think just because “the customer is always right”, you get to say whatever you want however you want to people who are trying to earn an honest living. Well, think again.

There are ways to find solutions; acting like a toddler isn’t going to solve anything. So even if you’re in the right and something must be fixed, be polite about it. You never know if the person you’re pushing is some degenerate that is likely to stalk you home after they clock out.

Employees.

Speaking of degenerates, the same message also goes to the rogue employees who are miserable doing the work they do and feel the need to pass it on to everyone else. That’s right, you don’t get a free pass.

I’ve worked in many industries throughout my young life. From sales to food and transportation to healthcare; you name it. It didn't take long for me to learn that for every "Karen" there's always a "Kevin" I had to put up with.

I've had the displeasure of working alongside some of the most incompetent, disrespectful, and flat-out nastiest human beings ever.

Look, I get it... Nobody likes the 9 to 5 grind. I’ve worked in some places that suck the happiness right out of me. That doesn’t mean I get to go around and treat customers or my teammates like they don’t matter. As an employee, you’re there for a purpose and that purpose is to help clients with a product or service, is it not? If you don’t want to be there, clock out and go home. Do everyone the favor and take a permanent vacation.

It’s one thing if you’re just there to collect a paycheck, and another if you’re trying to build a career. Neither one of these should involve you mistreating your customers or coworkers, especially if they’re being kind to you.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bitten through my tongue when the people who are supposed to help me achieve something do that thing where they smack their lips, groan under their breath or do anything to proclaim their overall annoyance.

Very recently, my mother had to deal with someone who was obviously not having a good time at the local grocery store. She asked a simple question about an item exchange and got nothing but attitude from the woman working there. She gained nothing out of the situation aside from being reprimanded by her boss; probably even fired. Now she’ll probably read this and realize who she is. (You know who you are.)

Now, I’m not going to even pretend to know what’s going on in people’s lives to make them act the way they do against one another in a place of business.

A business isn't a battleground. It's supposed to be a neutral ground where an exchange of goods and services takes place, and then everyone goes home to whatever puts them in a salty mood, right? Right.

And it’s probably just me because I have a bad habit of mirroring what I see. (I’m working on it, pinky promise.) I'm on a journey to not mimic the ugly things that others project onto me. So I always try to do what I can to be on my best behavior whenever I enter a place where I know a poor attitude isn’t going to get me what I want any faster. It's bad manners.

So, I guess all I’m saying is: be kind. As much as you can...

And if you can't be kind, then at least clear the way faster so I can pay for my hot sauce and I can go back home to write.