Kids these days… We say it way too often. They lack respect and common courtesy among many other valuable attributes. What if it was possible to curve their behavior in a way that would be beneficial to their presence as a human being as well as motivate them with the best motivator possible? Well folks, I’ve been saying it for years and I feel like some of you may agree with me. A viable solution would be to create a job program for high school students to work one semester in retail and one semester in the food industry.

Even if they only work a few hours a week, it would be extremely beneficial to their understanding of the world, as well as their perspective of people working in these difficult and demanding jobs. They would be motivated by earning school credit as well as extra cash but, along with that, they would be earning so much more than an A on their report card and a paycheck in their wallet. So often, many teenagers and young adults are sheltered or have acquired poor people-skills that make them cold and judgmental. Because of this, they look down upon, and even disrespect working class individuals that make a living by working in the retail and food industries.

With the help of this program, our youth could walk in the shoes of the individuals working within these usually low-paying jobs that the masses tend to turn their noses up at. Retail and food industry positions are not only cumbersome, but are also physically and mentally demanding. If you disagree, you’ve obviously never worked one before. Restaurant servers spend 12 hour shifts on their feet, running back and forth to get your fourth refill and extra ranch. They have to multitask. One table needs their order taken, the other needs their drinks, the next one’s food is ready to be ran out, and another table needs cleaning. Meanwhile, they are trying to hurry to put an order in, but before they can, another customer stops them to complain about their food. This goes on all day, every day.

Retail workers are running back and forth constantly too. They go from cleaning up the mess left behind by someone’s kid who was left alone in the toy section (so that the child would be distracted and the parent could shop peacefully) to going to the register as a back-up cashier and getting screamed at by a customer wanting to take advantage of store policies to get things for free. By the time they get back to the toy section, someone else’s child has pulled down each and every stuffed animal from the shelf and left them in a pile on the floor. After quickly picking them back up, the worker continues on to straighten a rack of clothes. Shortly after, they get called to the register again, only to return to see all of their work was done for nothing. Clothes are all over the rack and floor, because someone refused to think or care. All of these things make up their day-to-day activities at work, and that is not even the half of it.

In both retail and food services, a worker rarely gets a weekend off. It must be requested way in advance and even still may be denied. Of course, the weekends and holidays are the busiest times. For this reason, many of these workers loose time with their family and friends, are forced to miss family get-togethers and holiday parties, as well as work through horribly inconsistent schedules. A server could work 60 hours a week and still bring home only a few dollars on their actual paychecks. If people don’t tip, they don’t make money. Even if they get tipped, most servers do not get paid according to the effort they put in.

If students were able to participate in a program that allowed them to make a little extra cash, while also learning the value of a good work ethic, the world (and this country in particular) could benefit immensely from it. Instead of telling your server to “get a real job” and not leaving a tip, teenagers could understand that there is more than meets the eye with many of these blue-collar workers. Perhaps it’s a college student working to pay their way through school so that they can better their self in the future. Maybe it’s a single mother, who can’t be away from her child from 9-5, so she relies on working nights to support her family. Could it be that it’s a dad working a second job to pay for his child’s medical expenses? We, as a human race, would be much better off if we didn’t just assume that people don’t want better for themselves. Trust me, we all do. That’s why most people working these demanding professions do what they do, so that they have an opportunity to make a better life for their families or their self. Plus somebody has to do it. We have to all stop being so judgmental.

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE BEST LIFE LESSON ANYONE COULD EVER LEARN. Despite what the customer says or does, retail and food workers are trained to be as pleasant as possible, while still following all the guidelines and policies their specific store/restaurant may have. “The customer is always right” is the biggest lie anyone has ever spoken. The customer is WRONG 99.9% of the time, but you have to make them feel like they’re right. Teenagers, more often than not, have such a short fuse. With a few lessons in customer service, they would learn to smile through the ignorance some people exhibit towards others. If you can do that, you can do almost anything! Patience is such a virtue and it is not easily come by now-a-days.

Many (if not all) major retail and food companies hire seasonal and temporary workers. If a program like the one described is actually created, the students could easily fill these temporary positions. For them to be considered, they would have to be in good academic and behavioral standing within their school. Along with that, they would have to interview for the position (just like any other employee). Ideally, every eligible student would be hired on, but if there were too many students to participate, interviewing would be the most realistic way to choose to best candidates. In addition, the interview process will help to prepare them for other job opportunities after they graduate from high school or even college.

Imagine a world where the janitor is treated with as much respect as the CEO of a company. It’s a nice thought right? Everyone is a person despite their gender, race, or sexuality. BUT WAIT. Can we please add job title to that list? There is a huge stigma that your paycheck symbolizes your actual worth as a human being. I would argue that the character of a person is much more representative of someone’s self-worth, as opposed to the amount of money in their bank account. We all may have different opinions, but is it not fair to agree that we have all met some good and bad people from both sides of the spectrum? Let’s give the next generation a chance at a less judgmental perspective of someone based off of their income. It is never good to judge or be judged, and surely anyone could benefit from this lesson.

You never understand someone until you take a walk in their shoes. If a program was created for youth to work in these industries, they would be able to sympathize with the working class, no matter if they become the janitor or the CEO in life. They would learn respect, patience, as well as understanding. To be clear, I’m not saying that we should make these teens work 40 hour weeks, weekends, or even holidays. A couple times a week would give them a little taste of what it’s like for these low-income workers. Even if all they do is work the host stands and the dressing rooms, there would still be a lesson to be learned. It wouldn’t be time consuming or mentally/physically draining. It would be a wake-up call, more than anything. A program like this would be created to enrich the characters of today’s youth, but could also be extremely profitable to the industries as well. There’s benefits on both sides here.

To sum it up, THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. From a college student who has worked 6 months in the food industry and almost 6 years in retail, from the age of 16, take it from me. A little kindness can go a very long way. If these teens got a taste of the struggle of the working class, I bet that they would be better individuals in adulthood. “Better” in a sense that they are more hard-working, patient, and empathetic. A person is a person, despite if they are the janitor or the CEO, and everyone deserves respect. Kids these days… They could learn the value of a dollar as well as how much work actually goes into making it. Think about the possibilities.