It saddens me that I am even having to make such a post, but this world has gotten a bit cray cray. Customer Service Employees are people too.
Customer Service Employees Are People Too
As someone who has worked in customer service for close to 25 years, I have seen about every type of customer there is. And let me tell you, it was the worst at Starbucks.
It makes sense though. People view their coffee as a necessity, their daily “drug”, and when you withhold such an addiction, they lash out FAST. I’ve had 200° coffee literally thrown in my face through the drive-thru window because I forgot their creamer (that they failed to mention they wanted).
One of my previous coworkers was spit on…during this pandemic…because the line was taking too long. For the record, that’s considered assault. I once had a customer cuss me up and down telling me that I didn’t deserve to live, I didn’t deserve my job, and needed to be fired because her no foam extra hot latte started producing bubbles at the top of her drink after I had scraped the foam off 3 times.
Oh how I wish I could be making all of these up, but this is just a small taste of what I’ve seen. So you can only imagine the vast majority of customer service employees that face these issues daily. So I’m here to remind the world that employees are people too.
As customer service employees, it is their job to try to create the best environment for their customers. Most are coached to smile and welcome customers and have zero conflict with them, no matter the cost.
And yet, they are constantly treated like scum. Many employers don’t pay employees fairly or give them enough breaks. Many show up overworked, not feeling well, scared they’ll lose their jobs, and then on top of all of that, they have the customers to face. Customers who forget that these employees are people too.
I’m not sure where the trend started for customers to treat employees as though they are a slave to society and can’t have a voice of their own. As if any real issues they have are rested on the shoulders of the lowest rung paid employees, rather than the higher ups in the large corporations.
Something has got to change. Yes, it is their job to serve you. No, it is not their job to change store policies for you, magically make a line go faster, or magically make product appear.
Yes, it is their job to care (or at least pretend to). But It is not their job to be the verbal punching bag to your bad day or fix problems that are simply not fixable.
Employees are people too. These are people who have families, children, feelings, and struggles. They could be going through something detrimental and their mental health could be hanging on by a thread.
So please, next time you go somewhere where there is a customer service employee, please thank them for what they are doing. Put yourself in their shoes and give them the respect they deserve. Because they are people too.
Remember to treat others with kindness and remember that you are not better than someone else just because of your social or financial status.