I have been working since I was 13.

I babysat for a family that I have since grown very close to. I started doing that right after I got my babysitting certification in the seventh grade.

My first official job was as a golf caddy getting paid under the table at a local country club. I literally had no knowledge of golf at all, but all I did was clean balls and clubs/wedges/drivers, pull and fill divets, and smooth out sand pits. Oh, and don't forget sprinting down the fairway and trying to find balls that were soaring through the air against the white, overcast skies of Ohio.

That was fun.

From there, I started working at Arby's.

Or should I say Aaaarrrrbbbyyy's.

There were many days spent in front of a fryer, burning off my arm hair while getting yelled at for not "working fast enough" by customers. I had sandwiches, fries, and drinks thrown at me. I had people spit and scream at me. I had fryer burns all up my arms and a permanent earache from the drive-thru headsets.

People treated my coworkers and I like complete crap. They made me feel worthless, and, honestly, if it wasn't for the amazing group of people I worked with that treated me like family, I would have never gotten through that experience.

I began working at Panera next, which is my current job. I needed something that didn't send me home reeking of roast beef and fryer oil.

I met some of my best friends here, who helped me get through the customers constantly treating us like crap and talking down on us like we were uneducated idiots that knew nothing but the fast food world.

The people who would constantly complain to about us to management, but seem to forget that management almost always agrees with us and is on our side. They just tell you what you want to hear to get you out of their hair.

Working in the food industry is not as simple as flipping burgers. Sure, it is not nearly as complex as so many other jobs, but the emotional toll that it takes on your mental status is so detrimental that it has led many of my coworkers (including myself) to go cry in their cars on their 30-minute break.

Those people behind the headsets are humans too. Those flipping your burgers and slicing your bagles and making your latte that honestly is way too complicated for anyone and cashing you out are human. We have feelings, emotions, dreams, and fricken bad days too.

Is it so much to ask that you treat us as such?

We have all had a minimum wage job at one point in our lives, so why treat us any different? For most of us, these jobs are just stepping stones to better lives, but we still give it our all, anyway. We push aside all the crap happening in our lives to give you a bright and cheery smile at 6 a.m. when you want your coffee.

I'm just a 19-year-old girl who wants to be a nurse one day and is making your order to get myself there. I am not your punching bag. I am not below you. I am not nothing. I may work for only $8.85 an hour, but I am still human.

Treat me as such.