Respect Service Workers: An Open Letter to Customers

Dear non-service industry workers, 

Customer service work is honest work. It is grueling and taxing. Yet, more often than not, service workers are told to “get a real job,” as though dedicating their nights and days to providing services that make our lives easier to navigate — or more pleasurable to navigate — is not “real” work. 

Customer service is also often regarded as “low-skilled work.” But interpersonal skills, quick problem solving skills, empathy, and adaptability are inherently useful. These skills come along with the industry, and are all transmissible in nature. Customer service is fast-paced, requires one to think quickly when situations get sticky, and above all else, you have to be wholly friendly while on the clock. 

Yes, even while people are testing your patience. 

In my opinion, for jobs that are considered “low-skilled,” service work takes strength, drive, and unwavering mental fortitude to accomplish. 

Working within the goods & services industry also requires immense bouts of patience, considering the less-than-desirable treatment that service workers receive from people who, truth be told, seem to believe they are above the folks who take these jobs.

Barista creating latte art into a cup of coffee | Better Team

Here is the harsh reality: 

Your job, whatever it may be, does not make you important. 

More specifically, it does not make you more important than someone else, merely because they are getting paid less than you. Chances are, they deserve to be getting paid more for the effort they put into doing their job — as do you, I am sure. 

All of us are made of bones and skin. Our bodies only last for so long, and we will face the same rocky underground when our time is up. That may sound morbid, sure, but it is reality. That final curtain call is inescapable. 

So, why spend your hourglass of years being unkind to people who are merely trying to get ahead? Why spend your fleeting hours drenched in ego and impatience, when you could instead treat people with respect? 

It is easy to write off customer service as “lazy” labor, or perhaps as an industry that employs individuals who “did not properly apply themselves” or attend school. That could not be further from the truth.

Presently, I am a full-time barista. I am also a recent graduate, as well as an intern for two different publications, one that occasionally requires me to travel to the city. I sleep less than I do spend my time making lattes for people who, unfortunately, seem to think I am undeserving of their respect and kindness. While I would like to consider myself a hard-worker, a large number of people do not, merely because I stand behind a counter.

I was once told sincerely that I am “not allowed to be tired after work” because all I do is “pour coffee all day.” 

While this is not the case, considering the number of tasks I am responsible for within my position at the coffeehouse (baking, cooking, cleaning, brewing, grinding coffee beans, packaging products, serving, utilizing my social skills, making lattes, keeping track of inventory, placing orders, etc.) it often feels as though people forget that I am a person. That I am a living, breathing individual with dreams of my own, dreams I cradle close to my chest when the day has been long and I need a taste of hope. 

Let us also remember that many people, unlike me, do not have the privilege to attend university. Remember that for some, entering the world of customer service work was not a choice that they made — it was a necessity, in order to survive. 

Some service workers are single mothers, pushing through the motions of daily life to keep both themselves and their children afloat. Some are young adults, starry eyed and fresh out of college, doing what they can to make money, all while facing rejections from companies that want more experience. Others are individuals of retirement age, people that have fallen on hard times, left with no choice but to pick up an extra side gig to help pay the bills. 

Whatever the story may be, the fact remains that we all deserve respect. 

Say “thank you” more often. Smile, if you are able to. A sincere grin on your face and a subtle showing of your appreciation makes all the difference. Trust me. 

Sincerely,

A barista who desires fair treatment.