I wanted to briefly discuss the fact that all humans deserve respect. All of them. Every single one. It doesn't matter if they are young, old, black, white, male, or female-- or anything else. What does matter is the fact that if you treat a person horrible because they are different than you, then you deserve to be slapped right across the face. I do not care what your personal beliefs are; whether you think your religion says it's okay to hate a gay person (which, by the way, is not what you're supposed to do as a Christian- recall Mark 12:31) or you're just downright racist- it needs to stop.

I've worked in retail for only a year and I've seen some of the nastiest people come through and treat us horribly. I've offered a woman a sales ad and she goes,"no, but follow me and read it out loud to me while I shop." I've had a man ask me a question, I give the answer, and when he didn't like that answer he said to me," Um, okay, honey- are there any men working here?" I promptly get my manager who tells him the exact same information I gave. The customer then decides to accept that answer. Just the other day an older man came in extremely frustrated about his flea problem-- i suggested different options but he kept getting increasingly angry and asking confusing questions. When I told him I wasn't sure and that I would get my manager for him, he looked like he wanted to slap me. He said he had to make a phone call anyway while I went to get my manager. Again, my manager gave him all the same options. He said he had to call his wife, and when I walked by he looked pointedly at me and said," Yeah well at least this one knows what he's talkin' bout."

My best friend has worked as a waitress for at least 2 years- people have yelled at her, catcalled her, and many other things. She was always polite and worked hard- and never spat in anyone's food (honestly I applaud her self-control after hearing some of her stories). People who don't even leave a small tip don't understand how horribly rude that truly is. Waiters and waitresses barely get paid and rely mostly on their tips. I see people on the internet who assume one girl is from another country from her race and say,"we don't tip foreigners go back to your own homeland" on the receipt and that young girl who waited on them graduated the nearest high school and was born in the US.

I just don't understand how people could ever think this type of behavior is acceptable. Do they forget that we are human too, or are we just second class citizens while we are at our jobs? Do they not understand that we are also human and therefore cannot always fix problems right then and there immediately? I understand people's frustration when they can't get what they want when they want it, but that doesn't mean they get to harass or embarrass employees that are just trying to help. If you find yourself in a bad mood, please keep your temper in check and try to understand that the employee in front of you is just trying to help. Nobody's perfect and to expect that of anyone is ignorant.

Please be kind to each other. It means much more than you realize. I know many customers who are the sweetest people and I always look forward to them coming in. It's always better to be that kind of person- I'll tell you I work harder for them.

and for those who work and have experiences like this-- just know you're too precious for this world.