customer service

The majority of people my age work in some sort of customer service, as do I. I work at a well-known, corporate restaurant as a bartender. Being a corporate restaurant, there are many rules and guidelines on how we are to address our guests. As a bartender, my job is to be friendly and efficient, as well as polite and engaging. Everyday is an exercise in basic manners- polite greetings, conversation starting, personal inquiries, and “please” and “thank you"s. They are basic rules of social interaction that are instilled in most people at a young age. And yet, it never ceases to amaze me just how many adults seem to lack these manners. On a daily basis, I am faced with rude behavior. It is my biggest pet peeve. I am a young adult, and these offenders are not uncommonly business executives and educated professionals whom double my age. Every day, I deal with rude, inconsiderate, manner less people.
When a guest sits down at my bar the first thing I do is greet them. I offer your basic “hello” and “how are you?” which is something we have all been saying since grade school. Now typically the answer or reply to this refrain is something along the lines of “I’m good, how are you?” or sometimes it’s merely “I’m good, thanks”. Both of these are completely appropriate and acceptable. But let me tell you what is not acceptable, and what I commonly deal with. The exchange goes something like this:
Me: “Hi there! How are you today?”
Rude/ Can’t Be Bothered Bar Patron: “Diet Coke.”
Now, dear reader, I consider myself to be someone who is well versed on current trends. But the last time I checked “diet coke” was not a state of being, feeling, nor emotion. It is a beverage, which would be the appropriate response to my next question to this guest, but is not to the one I’ve proposed. At this point in conversation, I usually check out mentally. Being the well-oiled, corporate machine that I am, I go in to basic customer service mode. I get the diet coke, offer them menu additions, take their order, clear their dishes, take payment, thank them, and send them on their way. I make no further attempts to make their dining experience more enjoyable. I make sure that I appear too busy to engage in chitchat. I fulfill their basic needs, and that’s it. I refuse to put my kindness back on the chopping block, only to be met by their rude, inconsiderate behavior. I am indeed a bartender, but also a human being, deserving of the same common courtesy with which I would assume they would address a business associate.
My other grievance in regards to manners is sugarcoated rudeness, or indirect insults. The most offensive of which is this:
Guest (typically collagen-injected, plastic surgery ridden, 40-something): “Did you have a long night last night?”
Me: “No. Why?”
Guest (giggles, awkwardly): “Oh. You just look like you did”
Now, reader, I ask you- what exactly does that mean? “Having a long night” implies that I stayed up all night, and, as I am in my twenties, I assume it implies intoxication. So, what this guest is actually saying is that I look tired and hung-over. Thank you, dear patron that I’ve just met, for insulting my physical appearance and hiding it with a tone of concern or comradery. At this point in conversation my rehearsed response ( sadly, I do have a rehearsed response) is “Nope, this is just how I look” (said with smile). I find that this particular respoinse is the most effective in making the guest feel uncomfortable, without being downright rude myself. You see, the “corporate code” does not allow me to defend my honor, because “the guest is always right.”
Working in customer service is not for everyone. It is only suitable for people with a high level of self-control. Daily, I deal with people who are socially inept, and daily I must control my instincts to combat rudeness with rudeness. Luckily for me, I am able to laugh of these grievances. I can’t help but to think that these rude, manner less people probably lead unfulfilling lives, and that the coping/adapting skills I have fine tuned on the job will take me far in life. I will be he one that ultimately laughs. A more sinister, vengeful side of me hopes that one-day I will meet these offenders again, but will be in a far more superior position; one that does not require me to “keep my mouth shut”.