I was recently in a position where I was either defending or being defensive of (I’m not sure which one) my barista job. I was listening to a Tinder match describe his immediate and passionate launch into real-life adulthood, his proud lack of an adolescence, and the rich rewards of his rise-and-grind no-nonsense lifestyle. Good for him. I mean it. I didn’t take issue with the exchange until he asked me if I was any good at making coffee. I wasn’t truly disappointed with the conversation until it was over, and he had never asked me if I was a career latte foam artist or if maybe there was something else I was interested in.
For better or worse, depending on who is interviewing me, my customer service resume is more impressive than my journalism one. I got a job at a local market at 15 and since then I’ve done various jobs at restaurants, high-end clothing stores and cafes. I’ve also canvassed, which has overlapping objectives. Everyone always talks about how shitty these jobs are and how we must make more of an effort to appreciate those who serve us, because their jobs suck. But what they don’t talk about is how these jobs can actually be educational and even rewarding. I personally believe my customer service resume is not impressive relatively, but by any standard. I know I’ve developed skills at these jobs that make me a better-functioning worker and student in all kinds of environments.
I learned to show up, but not to prove anything about myself. For the sake of others. It doesn’t matter how good of a reason you have. If you’re not there, you’re not there. Jobs don’t get done if there is no one there to do them. That makes things extremely difficult for the rest of the staff, and makes them look bad. That is not to say I have a perfect attendance record. Once or twice due to various circumstances, unfortunate events and/or bad timing, I essentially did not show up for a shift. Hearing the horror stories of those impossibly busy and understaffed days made me feel ways I did not like feeling. I know people get sick. I know there are family emergencies. I know there are circumstances beyond our control. You’re allowed to have a day off. This unforgiving system does not exist to be unreasonable, it exists to be efficient. I once had a coworker who continuously requested a perplexing amount of days off. Another colleague would always eventually agree to be this person’s last resort cover. After a profuse thank you, my colleague explicitly said, “I’m not doing you a favor. I know you’re not going to come in either way, and I don’t want the whole place to be screwed. That’s not fair to them.” If this person felt that way about macchiato making, imagine how this responsibility could be applied to other jobs. I would like to have an employee like that.
I learned to delegate. My first restaurant job was dishwashing, and my boss called my co-worker and I field mice because we didn’t talk to anyone but each other. Somewhere along my service journey I went from being terrified of my co-workers to being comfortable telling them what to do. I learned how to speak, and more importantly how not to speak, to those below me from years of being trained, praised, encouraged and yelled at by superiors. There are subtleties in language, tone and delivery that determine whether or not someone is going to respect what you’re saying. I learned how to speak up and down. Sometimes this warrants the same approach, but often the objectives are different. Also, from being the new girl at various jobs, I’ve gotten my share of that “Are you SERIOUS. WHAT are you doing,” look. Whenever I’m tempted to give it to someone else, I remind myself that, although very fun, it doesn’t help anyone.
I learned to organize and multitask. A busy restaurant shift is a really great brain exercise. Servers have an extensive mental to-do list at all times. When you catch them walking by and ask for water, that becomes number 6 or 7 on the list. The people who do well in the industry are the ones who thrive under stress and who like to be busy and move quickly. When you have a lot of these people working together, it dictates the flow of the room and overall day. The way you individually organize can determine how the larger system works. At the end of the day, restaurants count up the number of heads each person served. I had a friend who consistently served more food than anyone else, and this was not a coincidence. She adamantly stuck to a “schedule” to get people in and out without compromising their leisure and experience. She didn’t leave tables without an order on her notepad. If they weren’t ready, she helped them decide. She served people more quickly, turned more tables, had more customers, and made more money. She catered to her own tables this way while also assisting other servers, doing side work, fielding requests from other people’s customers and bussing. Busy days are a complex web of individual and complementary work being done with a focus on forward-motion. Servers are constantly checking things off the mental list one by one, and it isn’t done until the door is locked.
I learned to stand up for myself, my coworkers and the company. The customer is rarely right. I’m sorry. The customer deserves the best experience they can be given, but that doesn’t mean they know everything about the inner workings of the establishment and menu, or more than the people working there. I don’t know if it is because I’m young, or a girl, or that I’m quiet, or that I really am just very stupid and I don’t realize it, but people love to assume I don’t know anything about my job. It happens almost every day. While it is essential to pick your battles, admit your mistakes and be the cool voice of reason in frustrating interactions, I finally realized it is also necessary to promote respect and assert myself as a professional adult, even if just for my own sanity. A few years ago when anyone was upset for any reason I would have just apologized profusely. But then I became more comfortable with, not denying a problem or dismissing a complaint, but taking intentional time to dissect issues with customers. While I’m obliged to apologize for mistakes or inconveniences, I also don’t want them leaving with a skewed view of the place because of a misunderstanding.
I learned to care for burns properly to minimize scarring. But actually. It only takes one real good scalding to scare you into being more careful with pots, pans, ovens, boiling water and steam wands. Mine was in 2009. Maybe if I had applied aloe right away instead of going into the bathroom to freak out I wouldn’t be looking at the scar on my forearm right now. All the others are gone by now or very minimal. This has nothing to do with getting a job.
I learned to work my way up and be appreciative of opportunities. Again, my first restaurant job was dishwashing. One of the first things the girl training me said was that I was going to see and touch a lot of gross shit and I would just have to get over it. At first I was horrified by the mystery concoctions accumulating in the sink. But as soon as she said, “It’s just food and water. There’s nothing in there you wouldn’t put in your mouth,” I was fine. By the end of the shift I had garbage slime on my jeans from slinging bags into the dumpster and it wasn’t the end of the world. By the time I got to be a busser and wear dresses to work, I felt like a princess. I thought the restaurant was doing me a favor by letting me prance around the temperature-controlled dining room and pour water all night.
Finally, I learned how to read and react to people. More specifically I learned when to sell and when to leave people alone. People know when they’re being pressured. People know when you’re making commission. People know the difference between someone being attentive and someone kissing their ass. Personally I always had better luck selling expensive clothes or collecting contributions by leaving a little distance rather than getting too friendly. This also depends on your personality and utilizing your given assets. If you’re good at being peppy without annoying people, then go that route. But if that’s not how you naturally operate (hi), you may benefit from being the alternative for the people who don’t buy that approach. I once had a customer at a clothing store who didn’t spend much money but came in regularly. I was often there when she came in and we’d walk around the store, try on a few things, sometimes she would buy something, sometimes not. She didn’t particularly contribute to my necessary numbers but I spent time on her because we got along. Once I got word from a colleague who said she came up to the counter and asked for me. When they said I wasn’t there, she said, “Well she’s great, you should have more people like her working here.” My manager heard. I didn’t earn this woman’s money, but by interacting with her the way she was comfortable with, I earned her respect and her repeat, if sporadic, business.
Having a retail or service-heavy resume doesn’t have to mean you lack in other areas. It means you work long hours on your feet, you don’t walk away from unfinished jobs, you clean up after yourself, you anticipate others’ needs, you look out for colleagues and you remain calm under pressure. I often wonder if the people who get really, really angry over lattes and side salads can or are willing to do these things, too. I’m not saying they can’t or that they don’t have jobs that make great contributions to society. I’m just wondering.
kiera murray 