I’ve worked in as a cashier for almost two years now. This has been my first real job, and it’s incredibly convenient considering it’s a five minute drive from campus and the hours are flexible with my classes. Overall, the job is perfect for my current situation. However, I will say that it is exhausting. Technically it shouldn’t be so tiring, I rarely work shifts over six hours and there is little to no heavy work involved, yet I’ll still return exhausted from every shift.

This, I’ve come to realize, is the result of working with customers all day. The emotional toll of pretending to be happy for hours can be tiring on an employee, especially when it comes to dealing with a difficult person.

Ever since I started working in customer service, I’ve noticed that I act differently whenever I walk into a store. I’ve become a doormat. No matter how rude an employee may be to me (which rarely occurs, but still), I am willing to let it happen because I know how difficult it is to work with customers.

Knowing what you want is a great way to make things easier for an employee. I work in a bakery, so when people come in and say, “I need a cake,” that means I have to go through all of our products until I find out what they’re looking for. “How many people are you serving? What flavor would you like? Do you want it decorated? Is it for a certain occasion?” If you come in and don’t know what you need, then it’s OK, but try to have something in mind to make an employee’s life easier.

Additionally, if something is wrong with your purchase or you are disgruntled over something, then don’t you dare be rude to an employee. I’d say about 95 percent of the time, it’s someone else’s fault that something was messed up. So to go up to a cashier and act as though they are the bane of your existence is plain cruel. We are not allowed to be rude to customers, so we must sit back and listen to the customer complain about something that is entirely someone else’s fault, which not only frustrates us, but makes the customer look childish.

To go off of this, if something was really messed up with your purchase, then tell the employee about it and ask politely to speak to a manager if possible. Nobody is out to get you, so the mistake in your purchase might have been inconvenient, but it’s just that. A mistake. Take a deep breath and don’t be rude to others.

Closing hours are something I consider very sacred. Most of my shifts are closing shifts, so when it's half an hour until closing, I’m going to slowly start my duties. If a store closes at 8 o’clock and you come in at 7:55 p.m., then you’d better know exactly what you want because now is not the time to idle. The employees may seem happy that you’re there, but trust me when I say they are silently cursing you for disrupting them. Not to mention that if a store has to stay open late for you, then there’s a likelihood that more people will come in while you’re still looking and cause the employees to stay longer. I remember a time when one person came in two minutes to close, and since we had to stay open for them three other customers came in to place custom orders. We had to stay open half an hour late to finish everything just because one person came in during close.

To combine all these tidbits into one lesson: just be nice. You could be coming in five minutes to close to return a product and require a lot of attention from employees, but if you’re a nice and patient person, then I guarantee the employees are going to be appreciative and make sure your purchase is the best quality possible. Just because we’re getting paid does not mean a customer has the right to treat us like servants, since I can promise that we are not getting paid nearly enough to deal with attitude.