windy city romance.

annaetc:

I think everyone should work in food service at least once, simply because it cultivates an empathy that, as far as I can tell, is otherwise nonexistent. Anyone who claims that the United States is free from day-to-day classism has clearly missed out on what it’s like to be the person behind the…

CO-SIGN TO ALL OF THE ABOVE.

My family’s in the restaurant business, so I grew up in the service industry. I’ve been a cashier and a waitress on and off since I was 13. I also worked at a vegan/vegetarian cafe in college for almost a year.

And to this day, it still BAFFLES me how people who work in the service industry are treated. Seriously, people can be downright cruel and nasty to total strangers. I’ve seen and dealt with more than a good handful of these situations. More often than not, I was left completed outraged.

Don’t even get me started on the tipping issue. I’ve been working on and off in the service industry long enough to know that a dollar or two can make all the difference in the world to the barista at my local coffee shop, especially if everyone on that shift has to split the tips evenly afterwards (like I used to have to do at my old cafe gig). And one of the many reasons I love my boyfriend so much is because that guy is a good tipper, no matter where we go out to eat.

When it comes right down to it, I’ll always remember what one of my old managers used to say to us: You do NOT fuck with people who can fuck with your food.