When I came to Mizzou 2 years ago, I was a bright-eyed and busy-tailed freshman who was excited to make new friends, face new challenges and try new things. I had grown up in a smaller town and attended a private high school with a graduating class of about 150 people. I had no idea what the real world was like, as much as I hated to admit it.

In April of my freshman year, I was hired for a job that I was extremely excited about. I had worked customer service before and had enjoyed it for the most part, so I was not worried about doing it again. Except this time, things were really different.

My job has made me lose faith in our society.

I am put in situations on a daily basis where I am treated like complete and utter scum just for trying to do my job. My coworkers and management staff are amazing; they are not part of the problem at all. The problems are the people that walk through the door and require my help.

My job is by no means a simple one and I try my best every day to get people the right information and get them where they need to go without any hassle. I kid you not, I am met with rude, angry and stone-cold attitudes about 75% of the time. I had no idea that the average person was so rude until I started this job.

If I can't provide an answer someone likes, I'm called unhelpful. If it takes me a little time to sort out an issue, I get snide comments about how it "couldn't have taken any longer" to help someone if I tried. If I exhaust all of my resources and tell someone there is not much more I can do, I am called rude and reported to a manager. It is not always words that are used. There is eye-rolling, sighing and nasty tones too.

Growing up, I never watched my parents treat people this way and it confuses me why most people think it is ok.

No matter how long we had to wait for something or if someone had trouble helping us, my parents would always thank them and be polite the entire time. They would never sigh and roll their eyes, make hushed comments to me or my siblings, or simply walk away when we had gotten what we needed without saying thank you.

Working as a member of the community assisting other community members has truly made me lose faith in our society and question whether humans are good, genuine beings by nature. It has taken a toll on my mental health being treated this way day in and day out. It has also taken a toll on my emotions, as I often leave work upset and frustrated, feeling unappreciated. My job is to help people, yet I feel like I'm doing the exact opposite.

What has changed so much in our world that makes people think it is fine to treat customer service employees this way? I will never understand. The next time you are dealing with someone who works with people face to face all day, whether it be at a store, a fastfood restaurant or a hospital, treat them with the respect you would expect if you were on the other side of that counter or desk.