Don’t be a jerk to food service employees

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They are people who are far too often taken for granted. Most make minimum wage. They are people that we see every day, yet often don’t even give a second thought about what we would do without them.

Who are they? Food service employees.

For some reason or another, too many Americans take food service employees for granted. One would think that people who provide you with a necessity for life would receive at least a little more respect, but in my five years of working in the food service industry, I have come across more rude and discourteous people than I ever thought possible.

Take that and multiply it by about fifty for the food service workers up here in Mount Pleasant who have to deal with drunk and immature college students.

Especially trampled are fast food workers. For some reason, people often think much less of them for the simple reason that they are standing behind a counter instead of bringing out their food to a table.

Don’t get me wrong, the food service industry can be fun, but when it is a bad day, it is often a completely terrible day.

Be considerate next time you go out somewhere to eat. Everybody makes mistakes, so if your waitress makes a mistake, be polite about pointing it out.

Normally, if a mistake is politely pointed out, employees have no problem correcting it. It’s when customers get fanatical that we as employees begin to be not so nice back.

Also, being “the drunk” at a restaurant can be funny, and even put a smile on an employee’s face if it’s been a long day, but don’t take it over the line. The last thing an employee wants to deal with is trying to control an out-of-control customer. So if you have been drinking too much, think twice about making that trip to Taco Bell at two in the morning.

Working in the food service industry has made me appreciate food service workers more than I ever imagined, and it has been a great learning experience.

I would encourage everybody to work at least a year of their life in the food service industry. I guarantee that after spending some time on the other side of the counter or in the back of the kitchen, attitudes about going out to eat will change.