One of the biggest things that irks me is when others complain about people doing their jobs. "Oh my gosh, the construction workers are so loud!" "These guys are taking their sweet ol' time getting me my food." "Excuse me, checkout guy, can you move faster?" I get that some days, life just isn't going your way, but there is absolutely no need to take it out on others.
As a kid who worked the night shift of a supermarket, I've had too much experience dealing with rude and angry customers. When it's past 11:30 at night and we are not allowed to sell any more alcohol, I have a group of people come up to me and say, "Why can't I buy this?" or "The other store sells alcohol past 11:30" or "Can't you do something?" and my personal favorite, "That is so dumb! Never gonna shop here again!"
My response every time to these people: "Sorry, but it is against our store's policy and the state of New Hampshire to sell alcohol past 11:30 in supermarkets." Very rarely do I hear, "Oh, that makes sense. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble. Thanks for letting me know, kind sir." If I had a dollar every time I've heard something like that, I'd be pretty damn broke.
From working in a supermarket, when something doesn't go a customer's way, they usually cause a scene. I lost track of the times I've seen old ladies yell at cashiers that their cards didn't go through, or customers complaining that the line is too slow, or even the rare mom throwing groceries around the store because her coupons expire. I understand that grocery shopping is not always a pleasant thing to do, but honestly, stop taking it out on us. Most supermarket employees are either teenagers working their first jobs or people who need some extra cash to support their families. We can't control how fast a line moves. We don't have the power to put money into your overused credit card. We sure as h*ll have no say in when coupons expire. We are just doing our jobs.
Recently, the town where my college is in is doing roadwork. Instead of being thankful, I hear "Oh my god, they are so loud! I have to study for a test! The road is blocked! This is in the way of my daily run! They woke me up on the one day I don't have classes! Why are they making my life so difficult!"
Hey, newsflash to you college students: the world doesn't revolve around you! It is infrastructure, and towns need that to stay maintained, and the country needs that for the economy. They are not deliberately trying to ruin your lives, they're just doing what they are hired to do!
One of my housemates actually went up and talked to some of the construction workers to see what was going on. She came back and told me about how nice they were and how they would be done working within next week or so, also saying sorry that they had to do this so close to finals week. It really touched my heart see a peer of mine go up to them and have a conversation with them. They are people after all, and they have a job to do.
There is also this janitor in one of my campus's dining hall that aggressively cleans the floors. When I say aggressive, I mean he would constantly pace around the dining hall to sweep up trash. If someone is sitting by themselves, he would go and sweep under their feet, or wipe down the table they are at. Some of my friends would say he is "invasive," "rude" or "scary."
What they probably don't know is that he is one of the most dedicated workers I've seen. I've overheard him once saying how he was working 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Staying that long to sweep floors with the same attitude all day long is something I could never do. But the amount of thanks he gets is not enough.
So before you start b*tching about how long a line is, or argue about the price of something, or even throw shade at a worker, pause and think, "Is it really their fault?" Most of the time, the answer is no. If people are being paid to do something, they usually are putting in 100 percent of their effort to give you great customer service, or serve you that meal, or whatever it is they are doing. Please, when you are mad or disappointed about something, there is no need to lash out at someone else. Life is hard, some are harder than others, so let's all just try to make it easy on everyone.
