I worked at subway for two years.

After having talked to other fast food employees I realized that working at Subway is a very different experience than say...Wendy's or Taco Bell. At Subway you have to make the food, in front of the customer, while being directed by the customer while also trying to move as fast as you possibly can. This can make for a lot of mishaps and miscommunication between food orders. With that being said, I feel like there are a few things that the customer should understand about working at Subway.

Before I rant, I would like to note that I actually really enjoyed serving people. Most of them were really polite and patient. I also had very fun and witty dialogues between my customers. I met one of my best friends, Mike, while working at Subway. We both had complimenting senses of humor that really clicked with a lot of customers. That's probably the only reason I stayed as long as I did. (On a side note, if anyone needs to hire an accordionist, Mike is probably the best in all of Illinois. So just leave a comment and I'll hook you up.)

First thing that you should understand as a customer is that you are making the conscious decision to eat fast food that is most likely of poor quality. So, if a sandwich is unsatisfactory for you, it is not the fault of the employee.

This one customer watched me make his meatball sub and he left with it only to return five minutes later to tell me "I wouldn't feed this sandwich to a dog." He then asked my manager to watch over me as remade the exact same sandwich the exact same way. I never saw that customer again.

Another thing you should know to is to stay off of your phone while you place the entire order. This became such a problem that we actually put up a sign in my Subway that we do not serve customers if they are on their phones. The problem with this is that people become so involved with their phone discussions that they forget that their sandwich is being made. We now have the responsibility of pulling the order out of you every step of the way. This holds up the line and it's just a very rude thing to do. Just be polite by finishing the call before you order or call them back.

If you need more than five foot-long sandwiches please call ahead of time instead of coming in in the middle of lunch rush while we have a line to the door, and ordering seven foot longs of the most time consuming sandwiches to make on the menu while also having every vegetable and four different sauces on each sandwich. This had to have happened at least two or three times a week. When this happens no one is happy. The employees are backed up. People have to wait very long when they have an hour lunch, and the guy placing the order is scolded by everyone in line. With that we won't even make half decent sandwiches because we are in such a rush.

Don't be mad at me about prices. It's not my fault that the sales tax is constantly raising. Thats right, you did order double meat and extra bacon on your foot long. Yes, that is an additional four dollars plus tax onto your order.

I'm pretty sure this goes for all restaurants, but parents please control your kids. We can't keep walking up to see if we have a customer because five year old Tim likes the way the restaurant dings every time he opens the door. If your child spills half their bag of chips on the floor be a parent and clean up after your kids. Don't let them run around screaming ruining everyone's lunch, discipline your child and teach them to act respectful in public.

Working at my Subway was already hard enough without upset customers. You won't believe some of the people I worked with. When I started I had to work with this old man from Mississippi. He was so old and racist that he complained to me about when he had to start going to school with black people due to desegregation. He was actually fired for making a 13-year-old Muslim boy cry for calling his dishdasha a dress and telling him it's un-American. I worked with him for about two or three months before I told my boss that if I worked with him again I quit.

I also worked with his daughter, an insane middle aged alcoholic who drove around drunk with her three-year-old son in the booster seat in the back of her car. She would ask customers about their religions during lent. She once treated me terribly with the hopes that she could be fired so she could be paid unemployment. That's not even how that works!

In the end what I'm trying to say is don't treat fast food employees like your own personal punching bags. You don't know their life or what they're going through. Try to think ahead and be aware of how you could make their job easier.