As I walked out of my job for the last time, I felt a flood of emotions. I gathered my things and said my goodbyes, while I held back tears. This was a job that I had dedicated the past two years of my life to. Reflecting on the drive home, I understood how people might cry saying good bye to the last students they’ll have ever have or playing their last game of their career, but why I was I struggling to keep from crying there? After all, I had spent the last years simply preparing people’s food. As I thought more about it I realized that I was emotional for a couple of reasons. One obvious reason being that I was moving on to a new chapter in my life and leaving an old one behind. The other reason being all the lessons I had learned from working there and doing that job…valuable lessons that I never would’ve learned quite the same way had I not been there. This job helped shape me into the person I am. So what could you possibly learn from flipping burgers, you might be thinking? Well there’s a couple of things…at least 10 actually.
1. Your job doesn’t make you better than anyone else.
I may have been working at a well-known and respected restaurant around my town, but what was I doing there? I took people’s orders, I prepared their food, and I cleaned up after them -the same job that any employee at McDonalds or Burger King does. If anything, those people work a lot harder than I had to. And that goes for all jobs, in the food business or not. If you work in retail, you’re doing the same thing – serving and cleaning up after people. Sure, it might be done in different ways, but at the end of the day, how are you better than someone who also shows up to their customer service job every day, trying to make a living just like you are. I’ll tell you. You’re not.
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2. There are people who work 10 time harder than you do.
Sure, this may seem like an obvious point. However, people rarely take it into consider when they are complaining about their current situation. There had been countless times that I came into work yawning and talking about how tired I was, only to look at the schedule and find that my coworker had just worked five 8-hour days in a row. There were also days when I couldn’t wait to get off work so I could go home and sleep, only to remember that my coworker was going straight to their other job after their shift at the restaurant. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be allowed to complain if you want to, but think about a couple of things before you do: In the grand scheme of things, should you really be complaining about this and who are you complaining about this around? After all, we’ve all been there when someone is complaining about having to wake up early when you had to wake up even earlier (or something of that nature.) It’s just plain inconsiderate. People have to work harder and have it shittier than you do. OKAY?
3. Everyone has a story.
I met hundreds and hundreds of people over the course of my time there. What never failed to amaze me were all of the things that I learned about people that I never would’ve expected. That guy ordering a salad? He recently lost 200 pounds. That man who always comes in by himself? His son just died in a car accident. That woman who only orders a small fry? She lost her job. You’ve probably heard this a thousand times but it’s important. Everyone is going through something that you know nothing about and that you probably wouldn’t even have expected. Don’t be so quick to judge people.
4. Never stop being grateful.
This one is a given, but I had been reassured of it countless times during my time working there. Like I said before, there are people who have it worse off than you. For this reason, you should count your blessings and be grateful for the things that you may often take for granted. Through hearing the stories that my coworkers and customers would tell me, I learned to be even more appreciative than I already am of everything in my life – my car, my house, my education, even being able to take a hot shower.
5. Laughter is the best medicine.
I could go on for hours and hours about all the things that customers did that would annoy me. For example, returning their perfectly cooked food because it’s not perfectly cooked enough for their standards. Or asking me to put all of the toppings on the side. OR BLAMING ME FOR GETTING THEIR ORDER WRONG WHEN THEY DIDN’T MENTION THEY WANTED FRIES AND A DRINK WITH THEIR BURGER!! @*&$^#! Whew. Sorry about that. As I was saying, I wanted to smack at least a dozen customers in the face every day, but what made me able to keep my sanity is that after each time, my coworkers and I got to go in the back and laugh about how stupid the situation was. Laughter is therapeutic and you should always try to make fun of a situation that boils your blood or stresses you out - for your own sake. After all, had I not been able to laugh with my coworkers about it all, I probably would’ve gone crazy.
6. You can't please everyone.
When I had to take off work to go to a school event, I was disappointing my boss. When I had to skip a social event because I had work, I was disappointing my friends. And the list goes on. From working part time and going to school full time, while still trying to have a social life, I learned that you’re not going to be able to make everyone happy. Sometimes you’ve got to do what’s best for you and your well-being and just say, “Oh well.”
7. Be nice to those who are helping you.
I’m going to let you all in on a secret that anyone who works in customer service already knows – the nicer you are to the person helping you, the better service you will get. Whether it’s your doctor, your dentist, the lady at the bank, the man bagging your groceries, the kid washing your car, or the guy making your sandwich, it’s important to show people that you appreciate them. Whenever a customer was being rude, I wanted to help them less. Subsequently, I was less likely to ask them if I could clean their table for them or get them anything else. On the other hand, I put a lot of thought into making the food for people who were kind to me and I went the extra mile for those customers as well. Simply being friendly, smiling, and saying thank you goes a long way. Not doing those things also goes a long way…Muahahaha.
8. Some people just plain suck.
Sometimes it’s your coworkers, sometimes it’s those customers that insist you reopen the restaurant so that you can make them a burger after you have ALREADY CLOSED. To be straightforward, some people just suck and there’s no way around it. And that’s okay. Accepting someone sucks makes your life easier because you no longer have to put any thought into why they do the things they do or say the things they say. You already know. It’s because they suck.
9. Eat well.
Being surrounded by hotdogs, french fries, and milkshakes may sound like a dream, but it gets old pretty fast. The reason being that even though all of that food is delicious, eating it all the time is obviously not the best for you. What I noticed most about eating greasy food at work for days in a row is that it took a toll on my energy level. I always felt more tired throughout the day and even sick sometimes. Eating healthy is not only better for you, but it helps you to be more energized. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not against eating a nice juicy cheese burger once in a while…
10. Life isn't as bad as it may seem.
Just like anyone else, there were days when I stared at the clock counting down the seconds to when I would be able to leave work. Even short shifts seemed to last forever. There were times when I didn’t get along with my coworkers and asked myself if working there was even worth it. And there were times when all I seemed to do was complain about my job. However, on my last day there, all that flooded into my mind was all of the good times that I had had there over the past couple of years. I realized then that although life may seem bad in the moment, it’s never as bad as it once seemed when you look back on it. So try to enjoy the present as best as you can. Everything in life is temporary anyways.
