A few days ago I read an amusing (and sadly true) article about two phrases that are quite problematic. While I agree with the author that “the customer is always right” is a cause of many a distressed food service worker, I’d like to talk about how my current workplace doesn’t swing that way.

A few weeks ago, merely a month after I got this job, I was merrily walking towards my store to begin my shift. Being too lazy to change in the bathroom, I usually put on all my work clothes at home, so I proudly display my company’s colors during the short walk between my car and the store entrance. In front of the store we have a few tables with chairs, and amazingly enough they’re sometimes occupied by customers. On this particular sunny day, there was a tall African-American gentleman sitting at one of the tables, sipping on something inside one of our cups. As I walked by, he stopped me and inquired whether I was the manager. Funny way to ask that question - I’d expect something more along the lines of “who is the manager of this store?” After I informed him that I was not, he proceeded to complain about a certain blond girl working at the moment who was very rude to him. This struck me as odd, since in my short time there I haven’t met anyone who would ever be rude to a customer, and the guy claimed he didn’t do anything to provoke it, so…

I advised him to ask to speak with the manager on duty or someone in the district office, and went inside. In the back room I told my story to several people, and laughter ensued. It turned out the gentleman has generally been a rather difficult customer in the past, and that today he was displeased with not hearing “thank you,” so he proceeded to call one of the workers (temporary General Manager at the time, no less) a bitch. After that, the manager on duty told him to leave the store. So he sat outside and bitched at me when I walked by. Fascinating, isn’t it?

As much as I liked working at Coffee Bean up to that point, it was still relieving to see that the company policy protected the workers from such abuse. Granted, when we have somewhat difficult customers, we try to accommodate them with as little fuss as possible, but the line is drawn slightly closer than one might think. As the MOD told the guy to leave the store, she was effectively on her way to the back office to call the police if he refused to do so. She wasn’t going to let him mistreat an employee or compromise the enjoyment of other, perfectly courteous customers.

You might be shocked that she would dare defy a customer, but if that reaction is based on “the customer is always right,” please don’t tell me, or you’ll earn plenty of negative brownie points.

In this country of big words like “tolerance,” many groups of people are abused on an everyday basis based on fundamentally flawed principles. Yes, food service workers make mistakes. We do it all the time. We are also genuinely displeased with ourselves when you report such errors to us, and will try to make it up to you as much as possible. At Coffee Bean you’ll get your drink remade instantly, and if bigger issues arise you’ll often get a coupon or something. (In all honesty, if you had a conscience and a sense of morality, knowing that whoever served you the bad drink is genuinely beating him/herself over the head for it should really be plenty to make you feel like justice has been served, but people do like to be pampered…)

This, however, is quite drastically different from the situation at many other places. I’ve personally eaten at more than one restaurant where I noticed a customer verbally abusing a waitress (and it’s always a waitress that gets all the crap) far beyond what I’d think is reasonably tolerable. I’ve even been to places like McDonald’s and heard people order with an attitude like the cashier was a personal enemy.

Then again, politeness is an outdated thing, and being snappy is the new black…

…Even if you’re wrong (and you usually are).

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 8:51 pm and is filed under people.