# Say a prayer for the late shift fast food employees of the world. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 21, 2001, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773 "2001-04-21T09:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/41 "2001-04-22T15:57:16Z")
Manda JO, I like your reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/42 "2001-04-22T16:14:29Z")
To quote Randal from _Clerks_: **"This job would be great if it wasn’t for the fucking customers."** ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/43 "2001-04-22T16:23:35Z")
Given Manda JO’s compassion and way of thinking, she sounds **exactly** like the type of person who **should** be in some sort of customer service job. I bet 95% of the time she would be able to calmly defuse a difficult situation. But…knowing how downright rude and mean those few other customers can be, they’d chew her up and spit her out before she knew what hit her. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/44 "2001-04-22T17:01:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\*Given Manda JO’s compassion and way of thinking, she sounds exactly like the type of person who should be in some sort of customer service job. I bet 95% of the time she would be able to calmly defuse a difficult situation. > But…knowing how downright rude and mean those few other customers can be, they’d chew her up and spit her out before she knew what hit her. \*\* Exactly. I’ve known wonderful, gentle, courteous, big-hearted, generous people who worked the counter when I was working the big M. Most of the most compassionate were the older women, in their 50s, 60s, 70s. But even they would come back to the kitchen/sink area and start the “if that fuckwaffle thinks she can come back in here again and look down her pointy little nose at **me** while she orders her lunch, she’s got another think coming!” Everybody has a breaking point with customers, especially fast food customers who come in from the corporate offices next door and look at the crewmembers like they’re some kind of trained species of monkey. People in general really don’t appreciate the service sector. Non-commission retail, fast food, and sit-down restaurant workers are the least respected customer service positions, doing the most work for the least pay. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/45 "2001-04-22T19:41:35Z")
The whole point is, it’s a customer service job. Customer service. Say it with me, customer _service_. No one said it was fun or that some of the things a customer can say or do is justified, but that isn’t the point. The point is, if you take a job in this field you are there to provide service to the customer regardless. If you can’t handle it, get a different job. I’ve no pity for anyone that complains about customers while working a customer service job. I’m not advocating that it is alright for a customer to be a prick, but dealing with assholes is all part of the customer service industry. You can either do it, or you can’t. > [@](#): > > ## _Originally posted by nikjohns_ \*\*quote: > > Originally posted by soulmurk > > ## quote: > > ## I personally am polite and I’ll tell you, it doesn’t get me my food any faster or my order any more properly filled, so it almost makes sense that some people resort to being mean. > > Does it occur to you that the people being mean do get their order more slowly?\*\* What part of “I personally am polite” don’t you understand? I’ve been thanked by CS workers for my patience and understanding. Call it paranoia, but I make an effort to watch my food being prepared after I order it and make it known that I am watching. If I ever saw you spitting in my food, I’d climb over the counter and kick your ass. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/46 "2001-04-22T20:02:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by soulmurk \* > \*\*The whole point is, it’s a customer service job. > > Customer service. Say it with me, customer _service_. \*\* I fail to see how that could be read as ‘Kowtowing to Assholes’. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/47 "2001-04-22T21:17:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I fail to see how that could be read as ‘Kowtowing to Assholes’. No one has said you had to kowtow, as in bowing down and kissing their feet, but if you can’t understand that customer service consists of serving the customer before serving yourself, then you are missing the entire point of the industry and shouldn’t be a part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/48 "2001-04-22T21:36:03Z")
No, soulmurk, I haven’t missed the point of customer service, but you’ve missed the point of this thread. Customer service people are human, and should be treated as such. The people who don’t treat them as such aren’t, but have to be. This latter bit is wrong, morally, and needs to be changed. Managers and customers who have the idea that ‘the customer is always right’ means ‘the server has to put up with being treated like dog shit’ make what is already a dehumanising job even worse, and perpetuate a cycle of gross misconduct. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/49 "2001-04-22T21:49:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tengu \* > **This latter bit is wrong, morally, and needs to be changed. Managers and customers who have the idea that ‘the customer is always right’ means ‘the server has to put up with being treated like dog shit’ make what is already a dehumanising job even worse, and perpetuate a cycle of gross misconduct.** As well as causing a dearth of jobseekers willing to undergo the humiliation and aggravation of fast food in exchange for less than $10/hr (around here…I’m sure the base McDonald’s salary is higher in larger metro areas). My mother, who’s worked at a local McDonald’s for 13 years, has recently been worked to a frazzle because they can’t fill a schedule. I’m sure this isn’t local, as we’re currently in a pretty depressed job market in the area, which you would think would make _any_ job look pretty good. jayjay ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/50 "2001-04-22T22:44:06Z")
> [@](#): > > SPOOFE, I have worked in a fast food place for 6 months, and I would never want someone to collapse because I can’t be arsed to check their order. > Is there somehow something wrong about that? Where the fuck did you get the impression that the girl in the OP collapsed or had any sort of physical difficulty at all? > [@](#): > > loislane gives the impression s/he hates all customers. No, dumbass, Lois gives the impression that she hates assholes. Working at a fast-food restaurant (or any sort of bottom-rung unskilled labor job) is difficult. Assholes only make a difficult job worse. ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/51 "2001-04-22T23:52:33Z")
> [@](#): > > No, soulmurk, I haven’t missed the point of customer service, but you’ve missed the point of this thread. > > Customer service people are human, and should be treated as such. Having gone back and re-read my posts, I don’t see a single instance of advocating treating anyone in any job poorly. The point of the thread seems to be that some people are assholes and treat those in the customer service industry badly. Is that a good thing? No. Is it likely to change anytime soon? No. Knowing this, anyone that continues to work in the field has no right to complain about it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2001, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/52 "2001-04-22T23:58:58Z")
I work in retail, and wish I had a dollar for everytime a customer has reduced me to tears for an honest mistake, or for something that was not my fault. I think the girl had a right to ask for a replacement sandwich. Yes, maybe she WAS diabetic. Being a diabetic, however, is NOT a license to be an asshole. And let me tell you something-if you are abusive, I will walk away. I’m sorry. My job is to HELP you, not be a goddamn verbal punching bag. Soulmurk-get bent. I can’t afford to “get the fuck out of customer service,” okay? You wanna pay my bills? Like I said, if you are NICE, and POLITE, I will go to the ends of the earth for you. I will help you however I can. BUT, if you come in with a goddamn “The customer is always right,” attitude, I’m just going to get you out of there as quickly as I can. In fact, a lot of times, I have come off an unsympathetic, if I’ve had a long day of people giving me shit. Do you know what it’s LIKE to stand there for 6 hours, with nothing to eat, and have someone screaming at you and calling you names because the store ran out of the brand of paper towels that are on sale? And you cannot even DEFEND yourself? Do you know what it’s like to have people rant at YOU because they won’t hire enough people, because they’re too goddamn cheap? I tried almost full time a couple summers ago at Kmart-35 hours a week-and you know what? THAT almost killed me. I had a panic attack and a crying jag one day at work and had to be sent home, and couldn’t return until the following week. It can be incredibly difficult, emotionally draining, downright tiring, and let me tell you-there is NO EXCUSE for throwing a fit, just because someone made a mistake. Can you NOT behave calmly and rationally? And let me ask you this-how come it’s okay for a customer with low blood sugar to be a bitch, but I, who have been on my feet for six hours, haven’t eaten in 8 hours-and only a measly banana at that, with a migraine headache, must smile and be pleasant? Huh? When do I get to have a bad day? When do I get to have a fit? Goddamn it. I’m DREADING this summer. Because my dad’s gonna be on my ass about working more hours at Kmart. I work six hours a WEEK and even then, when I’m there, I often start crying, because I HATE it so much. Get another job. Yeah, where? Right now, I can’t get another job. Fuck you. Fuck you up the ass with a chainsaw if you think it is EVER okay to be abusive to a customer service rep, and that if that person complains, they’re being a baby. Just FUCK YOU. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/53 "2001-04-23T00:07:47Z")
BTW, Lynn, I hope you don’t think I’m directing this at you-I’m not. I have tremendous respect for you as an admin and as a poster. I’m just venting at no one and everyone that I hate it when people treat me like crap at work. I get tired, cranky, I’ve worked with blinding migraines so bad I was dizzy and seeing auras, I’ve worked with menstrual cramps so bad I could barely stand up, I’ve worked with my stomach tying itself in knots because I hadn’t eaten all day. But I am STILL supposed to be pleasant and POLITE. Why is it too much to ask that the customer do the same? Just because I’m getting paid? Well, isn’t the customer also getting something-what he or she wants? It is not souly the customer who is the reason I’m there. It is a give and take-you want goods, you pay for them. Simple as that. It’s an EXCHANGE. (While I agree, the girl had a right to be a bit upset, how she handled it was out of line, period.) And yes, Soulmurk, I DO have a right to complain. Unless you wanna pay my student loans, don’t tell me to get out of customer service. Unless YOU want to trade places with me. After all, isn’t it better I vent and rant and bitch here, at the SDMB, or at Customer’s Suck, rather than take it out on the customers themselves? I rant here; at work, I’m always polite, friendly and pleasant. But if someone is abusive, I simply say, “I’m sorry, but if you’re going to swear at me and call me names, I’m not going to help you.” I complain HERE, and get my venom out, so I don’t do it at work. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/54 "2001-04-23T00:34:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I think the girl had a right to ask for a replacement sandwich. Yes, maybe she WAS diabetic. Being a diabetic, however, is NOT a license to be an asshole. Of course no one has a right to be an asshole. However, as I tried to make clear before, taking a sympathetic rather than overly antagonsitic view is best for **you** in the long run. It makes no differnece at all to the customer either way. We tend to assume that other people react to the world the same way we do: if a person goes around being hyper-critical of other people’s stupidy and momments of weakness, they come to assume that everyone else is hypercritical of them, and they get so stressed out. When something finally happens, the shame and embarressment is terrible becasue, being totally unforgiving, they expect the same from everyone else. Alot of that horrible horrible anxiety and stress comes from not learning to roll with the punches. To be honest, the little stuff will bother me alot more that the big stuff. Remember that the Mayo lady came in and burst into tears, not yelled obsceneties. That sort of thing is so enourmous, so beyond the normal range of acceptable reactions, that you almost have to believe that their are extraordinary circumstances, and extraordinary circumstances call for pity, not mockery. We may all be there ourselves one day. > [@](#): > > Given Manda JO’s compassion and way of thinking, she sounds exactly like the type of person who should be in some sort of customer service job. I bet 95% of the time she would be able to calmly defuse a difficult situation. > > But…knowing how downright rude and mean those few other customers can be, they’d chew her up and spit her out before she knew what hit her. Um . . .no. I am no wimp, and I certainly don’t let people walk all over me. But I odn’t go around believing that people are going out of thier way to make my life misrerable–they do it on accident. As I said before, little petty stuff is much more likely to make me mad, and I am no fool–I just think that most people are reasonable most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/55 "2001-04-23T00:41:09Z")
Oh, I know. I just read that the first time, she THREW the sandwich on the counter and started yelling. If she was CRYING, of COURSE I’d be trying to help. But I wouldn’t appreciate people throwing things. If someone comes in in tears and starts being upset about something, I’ll definitely be compassionate. I’m just saying don’t throw things on the counter and yell. That will probably cause ME to burst into tears. (Seriously, I do that whenever someone yells at me. I’m such a wimp. Actually, most of the time, when I started crying, the customer appologized…go figure.) I guess my rant was a bit vile-hope I don’t get banned for it, I didn’t mean to be nasty-this is just a subject that gets me riled. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/56 "2001-04-23T01:24:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by soulmurk \* > \*\*The whole point is, it’s a customer service job. > > Customer service. Say it with me, customer _service_\*\* Actually, it’s “put up with customers just to make minimum wage”. The customers can all die. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/57 "2001-04-23T01:27:31Z")
> [@](#): > > And yes, Soulmurk, I DO have a right to complain. Unless you wanna pay my student loans, don’t tell me to get out of customer service. Unless YOU want to trade places with me. I wouldn’t change places with you for anything. I did my tour of duty in retail and CR, I know I can’t handle it and I left it behind. Cry me a river and it still won’t change the fact that you are paid to serve a customer. The fact that customers can be downright mean is a fact of the job that every applicant knows about when they interview for the job. I seem to recall every interview for a CS position I ever went on included the question, “How would deal with an irate customer?”, or some equal variant. Until you leave the profession or learn to deal with it, no, you don’t have a right to complain. ---
**Author:** ![loislane138](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f19dbf/32.png) [@loislane138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loislane138)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/58 "2001-04-23T01:34:02Z")
Yes, the might-be-diabetic bitch THREW the sandwich on the counter smearing mayo and arby’s sauce all over the fucking counter. And another thing! I don’t care if the last time you were here someone gave you a larger size of milkshake…trust me, the only come in one size, and I’ll get in trouble if I give you a larger fucking size, deal with it, why don’t you just buy two, if you’re so fucking dead set on getting a larger serving of non dairy, corn syrup and cellulose gum solution?!? ---
**Author:** ![loislane138](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f19dbf/32.png) [@loislane138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loislane138)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/59 "2001-04-23T01:36:52Z")
Oh, and fuck you, soulmurk, everyone has a right to complain. ---
**Author:** ![MrWhy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9f8e36/32.png) [@MrWhy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrWhy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773/60 "2001-04-23T01:44:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by loislane138 \* > \*\*Oh, and fuck you, soulmurk, everyone has a right to complain. \*\* Except, apparently, your customers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/say-a-prayer-for-the-late-shift-fast-food-employees-of-the-world/62773.md?page=4)