In American culture and society, the food service industry is a big part of our lives, whether it be dining out or fast food. But what may be an even bigger part is how we as a society treat our servers. It has become increasingly noticeable how badly our servers and waiters/waitresses are treated.

Why is this? Is it because people are getting worse or simply because your server is dressed in a uniform? Often times it seems as if the general public think it’s okay to be rude to employees in the food/service industry because they believe they are below them. At the end of the day, they are still people. Just like you and me.

If you ask any person who has ever worked at a sit-down restaurant or a fast food chain, chances are they have at least one horror story about dealing with the public, it can even happen among co-workers too.

I worked seasonally at a ham shop and had a man literally throw a sandwich at my coworker and I because it wasn’t good enough for him. Another lady made up something about a different coworker of mine to try to get free food. My manager had to give it to her because the customer is always right, apparently.

A friend of mine got screamed at by a man because he was too drunk to watch his kid and he was mad that she didn’t watch his kid for him while she was waiting tables. Another friend had a large table of obnoxiously rude and loud guests who spoke down to her and stayed for hours and didn’t even bother tipping when they left.

My boyfriend was told he looked like a school shooter at one of his previous jobs, which is a terrible thing to even think about someone. There was also one day he had been working since the store opened and it was just a few minutes before close and he yawned when a customer with her kids walked in. She proceeded to make fun of him for yawning and did so up until they got their food, and then took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote front and back why he should be fired and she handed it to the manager.

In none of these instances was the customer right to act in the way they did. It is never okay to treat another person with a lower grade of respect than you would expect for yourself. This applies to all areas of life, not just the food industry.

Although it’s easy to attribute the steady rise of unpleasant attitudes to the overall loss of manners in our population, it is also true that the way you treat your server can say a lot about who you are as a person. Generally, if you’re rude to your server in any way or if you simply pretend they are invisible you are letting others around you know that is a strong factor of your personality. To see how someone treats the staff is perhaps one of the best quick and dirty ways to get to know someone.

To any of you who have not worked in the food industry and find yourself acting a bit colder, or maybe you just don’t understand, I encourage you to talk to people who worked in the industry to try to gain a little empathy, or perhaps pick up a part-time job in a fast food restaurant yourself.