Keeping a smile on your face, maintaining a positive attitude at all times, and meeting the needs of many different people, are all duties someone must juggle while having a job in customer service.

Since I’ve been old enough to have a job, I have worked in the fast food industry. Anyone who works at a restaurant or with fast food knows how customers can be. Whether they are nice, decent, or just plain rude. For the most part, if people are rude at food environments, it is usually because they didn’t get what they asked for or they were not happy with their experience. It’s their food and they want to get exactly what they paid for, which is understandable, but it’s how they handle it that can be a problem. Some may assume that people only act out like that at places, where common mistakes are made. Since I’ve started a new job in a more professional environment, I get more rude customers now than I did working in the food industry. Which really surprised me.

I used to think that the environment was what affected people’s behavior in public. In office jobs, many people think that customers won’t yell and use profanity because there are more professional people around compared to the type of people working at a fast food restaurant.
Jobs like a bank teller are professional, yet I have found that it is one of the hardest jobs when it comes to dealing with a customer. With this type of setting, I thought “Oh, this will be easy, I won’t have to deal with any rude customers.” I was wrong. Just because a bank is supposed to be a professional environment doesn’t mean that the customer has to stay professional. Instead, it means that I do because that is my job. Dealing with other people’s money can be a touchy business because people have worked hard to earn it and that’s part of the reason why customers may be so testy.

Everyone should treat others with respect no matter the profession. The golden rule is a good guideline to go by. If people would remember that the person providing them with a service is just like them, things would be better for everyone.
Customers would have better experiences wherever they go if they were courteous and patient, allowing the worker to do their job and not feel rushed or confronted. Respect goes a long way no matter if it is at Mcdonalds or Wells Fargo.
It’s beneficial to treat everyone with respect. Someone who is providing a service is doing their best. Yes, sometimes the worker can be the one being rude, but maybe cut them a little slack too. You never know what they are going through or what a previous customer may have said. Kindness works both ways and can help turn someone’s day around.