Two months from today marked my first day working in food service. I have worked in a daycare and in retail, but neither compare to what I do now. I work in a local bagel shop, and let me tell you, I've certainly learned more than how to correctly slice a bagel. If there's at least one thing that I've learned while working in food service it's this:
You learn to be patient and kind.
A customer holds so many expectations for the worker, and as the customer, you don't realize this until you are the cashier, server, cook, etc. In the customer's eyes:
If you're a cashier, you must:
1. Hold a smile for your entire 8 hour shift.
2. Never look tired, even if you're working over time on an under-staffed day.
3. Count back their change, quickly, while simultaneously reading their minds to know that they actually want their change to come back in 3 dimes, 5 ones, 2 tens, and 1 twenty.
4. Know that they have a coupon or some sort of discount even if you've never helped them before.
5. Answer the phone so the ringing stops annoying the customer... but also don't answer it while the customer is standing right there because that will annoy them even more.
If you're a server, you need to:
1. Bring their food to them.
2. Not get annoyed when you're calling out the customer's order number for the THIRD TIME.
3. Know exactly who ordered what, even if you weren't the one who took their order, because if you accidentally give the wrong plate to the wrong person you're at risk of a major eye-roll. This is especially true if the order was just not made to their liking! Sorry I didn't realize you like your ice water with only five ice cubes, not six.
If you're a cook, it's necessary for you to:
1. Cook their food as fast as possible but also exactly to their liking while simultaneously making sure it looks perfect because if it's not the most impeccable combination of the three then you're surely going to see that plate again.
2. Complete their order before any one else's because it's going to be your fault that they're late to work even though they came in two minutes before their 8:00 a.m. meeting.
Working in food service has taught me so much about the people around me. Please take in to consideration the next time you're ordering your coffee-to-go that your coffee isn't made by elves or machines, we are real people, and we deserve the respect and kindness that we do our best to give to you. (& if we aren't smiling and asking you how your day is, it's probably because you were either rude to us first or we're just having a bad day-- hey, we're people too.
