You shouldn't yell at your barista, or server, or anyone who is serving you.
As someone with a number of friends in the industry, as well as a combined 3 years of personal experience as a hostess/waitress, I'd like to think that even though I no longer slave away delivering hot plates of deliciousness, I can recall on that experience and treat my server/barista/whomever in a polite and professional manner.
Earlier this week, I experienced someone who failed (with flying colors!) to adhere to this practice while getting coffee, and it utterly irked me. While I won't go into detail about the unfortunate encounter, I will ask this: how, in 2014, can people still feel that they have a right to be rude to someone just because it's their job to make, serve, or deliver? What makes you think this? Is it because you work a "real" job with a desk and extension number?
Since it looks like we could all use a little refresher in Human Compassion 101, allow me to give you 5 reasons not to treat your service industry employee like crap.
Reason #1: Feet.
They've probably been on their feet for about 5 hours, and when the dogs are barkin', it'd be cool if the people weren't hollerin'.
Reason #2: Power.
Oh, did you think that you were in control of this situation? HAH. Guess again. That person is handling something that you're hoping to consume, so I suggest you be nice to them. Haven't you seen the movie Waiting? (<<< This link is not for the weak-of-stomach nor faint-of-heart!)
Reason #3: Humans Aren't Robots.
We all make mistakes. Forgetting to order your cheese on the side instead of on the salad isn't a crime. It's an accident, and it's bound to happen. As an added bonus, learning to forgive and not sweat the small stuff is good for your health!
Reason #4: The Customer Isn't Always Right.
Sorry, but the age-old mantra that managers have been feeding their employees is a load of badger poo and should be avoided accordingly. What happens when a customer enters a place of business and walks out with a bag of stuff or a belly full of food is an age-old tradition- an exchange of goods and services for money. What used to be treated as a business transaction between two equals has turned into a game where suppliers work their asses off to please the demands of customers, and the customers decide whether or not they're going to behave respectfully and professionally. If you've ever worked in fine dining, I'm sure you know this to be especially true. I know from experience that the customer isn't always right; in fact, as in the case where a perceivably wealthy older man decided it was his right to put his hand on me because I was a young, smiling hostess, the customer can be frustratingly, offensively wrong.
While your server might be working for you at the moment, they do not, per se, work for you. They are not your property or your pet, so don't touch them.
Reason #5: They're Somebody's Someone.
The next time you start to become frustrated with a barista or server, remember that they are a person, just like you. Just as you are a mother or sister or brother or son, they are also a mother, sister, brother, or son. If someone treated your daughter the way you're treating that teenager behind the counter, I guarantee you'd have a problem with it.
My purpose in writing this post is to ask us all to recall a time in our lives- whether it was 10 years ago, last month, or yesterday- when someone showed us a little human compassion. Do you have that moment in your mind? Do you remember not feeling like badger poo? Good. Now let's pay it forward and see to it that someone else we cross paths with gets to feel that way too.
