Dear Rude Customer,
As I am writing this, I am sitting at my kitchen table after a four-hour shift at work. I have worked at a local ice cream shop for the past four years, working both during high school and on breaks home from college. I really do like my job, but it is people like you that can make it unbearable.
I understand that not everyone will be in a good mood when they come in. I don't expect every customer to be nice, but I do expect them to have respect for both myself and my coworkers/bosses, as well as the other customers. For those of you that may be, or may know, a rude customer, I'm here to clear some things up.
First and foremost, I am not dumb. I am an adult in the middle of my college education at a top-ranked university. I don't need you to speak to me as if I am either a five-year-old or as if I don't understand what ice cream is. Also, please don't tell me how to do my job. Like I said, I have been doing my job for four years, and while it's not rocket science, I am positive I know more about how I should be doing my job than you do.
I also can't read minds. I don't know that you or your child has a nut allergy, so please tell me beforehand. There are too many times when people ask after the fact "that doesn't have nuts in it, right?" No but the sprinkles I just put on your ice cream might because they're located right next to the almonds.
Just because I am behind a counter does not mean I am below you. Would you throw change at or speak offensively to your friend or coworker? No? Well think of me as a coworker, trying to work with you to create something you want. To get what you want, you need to work with me, not against me. I am not yours to boss around. Do not ask me to throw away your garbage or whistle at me like a dog, and please do not tell me to get you something while I'm helping another customer. I can assure you it won't get you your ice cream any faster.
I have coworkers that work six days a week and are using the pay from this job to support themselves and their families. I also have coworkers that are students like I am. Sometimes some of us are there working from open until close, getting out late at night absolutely exhausted. We all work hard to serve hundreds of customers a day, and it's important to remember that.
No matter who is serving you, each and every one of them deserve to be respected. Racist language is unacceptable, and it's shocking to hear this language being directed at both coworkers and customers. No one person is above everyone else because of his/her socioeconomic status or race, and that includes you, rude customer.
If you have kids, it's important to set a good example for them. They live with you throughout their most impressionable years. Please show them how to be a good person. I hope that you can be a good person too.
Being rude won't help any of us, and it will most likely work against you. Isn't reverse psychology great?
Sincerely,
A tired employee
