My Thoughts on the Service Industry
Ok. So many of you know that I work at Starbucks, ie the service industry. The more I work at my job, the more I come to accept one unremitting, universal truth - people are so damn stupid.
I would give up my tips if I could tell customers what I'm really thinking (and not get fired for it, of course). The only think that keeps me coming back is knowing that everyone else I work with is thinking the same thing, and I can discuss particularly amusing/frustrating customer incidents with them.
There are 3 main things I absolutely hate about customers. Let's discuss them, and then go over a few tips that you, yourself, can use to avoid pissing of the people making your consumables.
1 - Mean, bitter people. I mean, seriously. What makes a person so indignant and irritable that they can go to a public service facility and be unprovokably rude to the people serving them? I don't get paid enough to take a verbal assault just because I'm scheduled for that particular time and some pompus snob wants caffeine that they sure as hell don't need.
2 - The repeat funnyman. "Hi, how can I help you?" "Uh, yeah. I'd like a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke." OH WOW. YOU ARE SO WITTY AND ORIGINAL BY ORDERING SOMETHING WE DON'T SERVE. Retard. The first time they do it it bad enough, but when the same customer does it every time? It wasn't cute the first time, pal. The worst part about it, though, is that I have to laugh and pretend like I give a shit.
3 - People that go through the drive-thru. I'm indiscriminant on this one. You've got the people that yell into the speaker, people that don't talk loud enough (then get angry when you ask them to repeat their order), people thath don't read the menu and ask stupid questions that are clearly answerable by using literacy skills, peopl ewith indistinguishable foreign accents, people that order non-consumable merchandise, people that order 5 drinks and hold up the drive-thru line in a rush. And the people that take so damn long to get their money out to pay. You'd think after waiting in line for 5 minutes to get to the window after being told your total that they would have the appropriate amount ready to give me. Nope. People that go through drive-tru don't tip either, cheap bastards.
So, to keep your servers happy, be pleasant, don't go through the drive-thru, and DON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE COME IN ANY TIME LESS THAN 15 MINUTES BEFORE CLOSE WITH TIPPING GENEROUSLY. Thanks, and have a great afternoon.
I would give up my tips if I could tell customers what I'm really thinking (and not get fired for it, of course). The only think that keeps me coming back is knowing that everyone else I work with is thinking the same thing, and I can discuss particularly amusing/frustrating customer incidents with them.
There are 3 main things I absolutely hate about customers. Let's discuss them, and then go over a few tips that you, yourself, can use to avoid pissing of the people making your consumables.
1 - Mean, bitter people. I mean, seriously. What makes a person so indignant and irritable that they can go to a public service facility and be unprovokably rude to the people serving them? I don't get paid enough to take a verbal assault just because I'm scheduled for that particular time and some pompus snob wants caffeine that they sure as hell don't need.
2 - The repeat funnyman. "Hi, how can I help you?" "Uh, yeah. I'd like a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke." OH WOW. YOU ARE SO WITTY AND ORIGINAL BY ORDERING SOMETHING WE DON'T SERVE. Retard. The first time they do it it bad enough, but when the same customer does it every time? It wasn't cute the first time, pal. The worst part about it, though, is that I have to laugh and pretend like I give a shit.
3 - People that go through the drive-thru. I'm indiscriminant on this one. You've got the people that yell into the speaker, people that don't talk loud enough (then get angry when you ask them to repeat their order), people thath don't read the menu and ask stupid questions that are clearly answerable by using literacy skills, peopl ewith indistinguishable foreign accents, people that order non-consumable merchandise, people that order 5 drinks and hold up the drive-thru line in a rush. And the people that take so damn long to get their money out to pay. You'd think after waiting in line for 5 minutes to get to the window after being told your total that they would have the appropriate amount ready to give me. Nope. People that go through drive-tru don't tip either, cheap bastards.
So, to keep your servers happy, be pleasant, don't go through the drive-thru, and DON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE COME IN ANY TIME LESS THAN 15 MINUTES BEFORE CLOSE WITH TIPPING GENEROUSLY. Thanks, and have a great afternoon.