It was my junior year of high school when I began my work in customer service, at a locally owned grocery store in my hometown of Washington, IL. I started in the bakery, then moved to cashier in late February of 2020, just before the start of the pandemic. By the time I left the store to attend university, I had been there nearly three years. 

Over the course of those three years, I learned a lot: multitasking, price look-up (PLU) numbers for produce, pricing, etc. But the most important thing that working in customer service can teach an individual is simply how to be a better person.

One interaction with a customer can make or break your day. I remember one time when I was a brand new cashier, barely 17 years old, and a middle-aged man came up to my register. He only had a handful of items with him, so I scanned them and he went to pay with a debit card. The card was declined, so we tried again and again. 

Each time I could see him getting more frustrated. Eventually, he was fuming and started yelling at me, “Why aren’t you doing your job?! I should never have come here, you won’t see me again!” He kept on yelling for several minutes until I called my manager up to the front. The customer then decided to storm out and I never saw him again, thank goodness. 

His ability to pay was something I had no control over, yet he still decided it was a good idea to yell at the teenage girl working the register. Moments like this can put you in a sad or sour mood for the rest of your shift. No matter how much you tell yourself you’re not going to let it bother you or take it personally, it is still hard. 

It was instances like this that taught me I never want to be that person. Someone who ruins another’s day. My life motto is, “leave people better than you found them.” Every time I am out to eat, in another store, or on the phone with a company, I make a conscious effort to be kind, patient and understanding because I know how it feels when someone isn’t.  

When I go out to a restaurant and they get my order wrong, I think, “is it busy here?” “Do they look stressed?” and I will calmly inform them of the issue. No matter how tired or hungry I am, I won’t snap at them. 

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and remember these individuals are at work to serve you, so be kind and understanding. Don’t be the one we dread seeing in the store.