I work at a frozen yogurt shop. Because this was my first job, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had no resume, no previous job experience, and no idea how to even begin to approach the dreaded interview. I was terrified that I wasn't going to get the job and that that failure would reflect on me as a person. But even getting the job didn't pacify my terror stricken mind.

What happens when I inevitably mess up on the register and am left stranded with an angry customer? What happens when I'm asked to make coffee when it's busy but have absolutely no idea how? Ultimately, my concerns were all centered on the possibility of failure or embarrassment.

However, in my mind they weren't possibilities they were mathematical certainties because I figured that I knew exactly who people are and how they think and what they do. In reality, it turns out that people can surprise you in good ways as well as bad.

1. People are messy

I mean like really messy. And lazy, too. See, we have sample cups in the front by the register. People take them back to the Fro Yo machines all the time which is fine. The problem arises when people start to leave unused or half full sample cups literally everywhere: on the Fro Yo machines, by the toppings, on the tables. And it doesn't end with sample cups either. People leave cups and sticky puddles of Fro Yo on tables, too.

Now, I'm not completely unsympathetic. I understand if people spill Frozen Yogurt and can't clean it all up with a napkin. It happens. Don't worry about it. But leaving water cups and sample cups and regular cups lying around isn't nice. Yeah, it's part of my job to clean up after customers, but there's a garbage in every corner of the store. It only takes minimal effort to make my job exponentially better.

2. Stray food isn't a big deal

Before starting my job, food that appeared anywhere it shouldn't be like on the floor or slightly left of the trash can was the most disgusting thing I ever had to deal with. To me it was equivalent to the leftovers on someone's plate being scrubbed in the sink. It was waste that was equivalent to other bodily wastes.

However, after spending my nights picking smashed food up off the floor with my bare hands and wiping down the inside of garbages, one might say that I've become immune. It's a psychology thing. Desensitization.

3. Squeezing in between customers is harder than it looks

We're supposed to sweep and sweep constantly. Especially when it's busy because sprinkles and Oreos and little bits of candy completely cover the floor. The thing is, it's a lot more difficult than it appears to get in between customers and sweep or wipe down the topping bar.

So I've learned that it doesn't have to be clean all the time. You don't have to be anal about it. It doesn't need to be a source of stress (I have too much of that outside of work anyway). Wait for that group of customers to get slightly out of the way then sneak in. As long as it's clean before the next wave of customers com in then it's a-okay.

4. It's fine to get rid of your change

Whenever I used to pay for something with cash I'd get really paranoid that I was holding up the line. I could practically feel the glares of other customers (and the cashier's) boring into the back of my head as my fingers fumbled over my coins.

Turns out, it's actually not a big deal to stand there with your arm in your purse up to your elbow. Lots of customers apologize when they're rifling through their purse or their pockets but, in all honesty, I couldn't care less. As long as you pay, I don't care how. Besides, it's nice to know that paying with change isn't the end of the world because I hoard change. And by hoard I mean that I collect it and never use it because I don't want to hold up a line.

However, there is an exception to this one. If there's a line out the door pay as quickly as you can and get out of the way! That one's just common courtesy. No one likes waiting in lines.

5. Work consumes you

You wouldn't think that it does. There's not much to do but make sure everything is stocked, make sure everything is clean, and make sure that no customer is left waiting at a register.

At school I'm always thinking of anything but school. At work, though, all I can think about is work. Scrub the table, stock the cups. Except for the few minutes of down time, it's work, work, work. I thought I'd be able to daydream and clean in between the daydreams but you can't. I'm getting paid for this work. I can't afford to daydream. And that's so draining. I'm a daydreaming kind of person. At the end of my shift all I want to do is curl up with a blanket and Netflix and forget about all my other responsibilities.

6. Customers are generally forgiving when you mess up

That was one of my biggest fears, that people would be generally unforgiving. But that's really not the case. It's strange because everyone worries about messing up, but, at the same time, everyone would readily forgive newbies for their mistakes because they've been in the exact same place before. Which is nice because I made some weird mistakes like ringing something up wrong, completely forgetting to ring something up, or just not even knowing how to add points to a rewards card.

But despite my fears and the long moments I stood in front of customers blushing, it didn't turn out so badly. Most people would look a little confused but were just glad that the problem got solved. This brings me to my next point.

7. Practice, practice, practice

In school, it's not difficult for me to learn new concepts. I never really had to study that hard for tests, it at all. So when people told me that practice makes perfect I just kind of brushed it off, tucked it away somewhere in the back of my mind.

It wasn't until I started work that I realized how true that is. It took me a good two weeks of work to really get the register down. In fact, I'd be so nervous about the register that I'd go through the motions in my head outside of work. If someone hands me a rewards card what do I do? What if someone gives me a twenty? How do I enter phone numbers again? It. Was. Terrifying. But the more I did it, the easier it got.

8. It's hard not to eavesdrop

Here's the scenario: I'm wiping down tables or sweeping or refilling the toppings and a couple walk by talking about what color to paint their sun room. Blue or purple. Yellow! I think. Obviously, I keep my mouth shut. Can you imagine an employee just interloping on a customer's conversation? Eek!

My point is that I'm not purposefully listening to customers' conversations. But it's not difficult to simply overhear one. It's like people watching but without the watching (it would be extremely creepy if I didn't watch people at work). People say that it's rude to eavesdrop, but I couldn't care less about what you're talking about, and half the conversations I forget in a matter of minutes. But it's entertaining in the moment, and it takes away from the monotony of scrubbing tables.

9. People aren't so scary

I don't talk to people. I'm bad a small talk. So, starting my job, I was petrified knowing I'd be constantly talking to people who expected me to know exactly what to do and how to do it. So, of course, I fumbled over my words and said "$3.47 is your total" instead of "$3.47 is your change" and "your change is $5 and 22 cents" instead of "$5.22 if your change." It might not sound bad in your head but when you're saying it out loud to a customer while your awkward trainee self tries to hand them their their change with one hand, you'll want to disappear under a rock for the rest of eternity.

But--and there is a "but" here--nobody made fun of me or got angry with me or even cringed at me. Except for the occasional nasty person who practically tapped their food while I retraced my steps on the register, people were unwaveringly patient and overwhelmingly kind.

Now I don't even bat an eyelash discussing a customer's favorite flavor while they wait for the rest of their group to finish topping their yogurt. I don't even think twice about explaining to a customer how our rewards program works. Even though we tend to think of people as intimidating and judgmental, they're generally just as polite and understanding as yourself.

10. Kindness goes a long way

And not just toward the customer. Of course being nice to customers will make them want to come back, but it's also nice when customers are nice to employees. Like when people leave sample cups everywhere, when people are rude to employees I can't help but wonder if they think we're robots here to serve and clean, that our only purpose in life is to cater to a customer's every whim. If you wouldn't want that as your job then know that we don't want it as ours either.

Just like customers want to be treated kindly and with prompt attention, employees, like myself, want to be treated with the same kindness and respect. I didn't realize how much of a virtue kindness is until people started being rude to me.

11. You don't have to be happy to be polite

Lots of employers tell their employees to always have a big, wide smile on their faces. Well, for me, if I'm in a bad mood you could give me ten puppies and pay for my college tuition and I still wouldn't smile. What I learned from holding a job is that you don't have to be happy to be polite--and that goes for customers too.

If a waitress was depressed or angry about something outside of work, you'd still expect her to be everything a waiter or waitress should be: polite, patient, and attentive. No matter how angry I am or how much I really don't want to be working, I still plaster on a smile and tell my customers to have a good day.

Politeness isn't something to only be granted to certain people or only based on a person's individual and varying mood. Besides that, it's a highly appreciated common courtesy. And, sometimes, the politeness or happiness of others lifts my spirits.

12. Hating work isn't the same as hating work

My friend is constantly complaining about how she hates her job. Before I got my job I kept telling her to quit if she hated it so much! I thought that she really, truly hated it. But now that I have my job, I say that I hate work all the time. One day I don't want to clean or I don't want to talk to people. There's always something to complain about, but I don't necessarily hate my job.

Once I'm there it's not a big deal. I might be bored, and I might be checking the clock every two hours only to find that two minutes have passed, but I don't loathe it like some people who actually quit do.

So, overall, work isn't as difficult as people make it out to be. People are usually nicer and more understanding that you would think, and, of course, people are inherently messy.