Pardon me while I stand on my soapbox for a moment.
People, if you are in anyway ordering something from
someone, please do not make that person feel subhuman by ignoring them by never
looking up from your phone.
I have had countless interactions with people that may as
well not count as interactions. On a daily basis, I have customers come up and
start to order their drink and then pull out their phone mid-transaction. Why
do people do that? You cannot just look at me and say, “I’ll have a coffee.” I
have numerous questions I have to ask because of your vagueness; “What size? Do
you need room for cream? Are you a member? Do you want anything else with that?”
Is your text so important?
I can never just assume anything because if I do, it’s
usually wrong. If you order a mocha and wander off to some other section and
don’t specify that you do not want whipped cream on there, it’s going to get
whipped cream by default. I’ve had various customers pick up their drink and
stare at it and ask “is there whipped cream on here? I didn’t want whip” or “I
needed room for cream” for their coffee, or “I wanted this kids temp,” and, my
favorite, “I wanted this decaf.”
Are you effing with me?
Is it so hard to just give me a minute of your time to just
make sure that I’m going to give you what you want? I want to give you what you
want so you’ll leave. You want your specific drink because you’re paying for
it, I understand that but I can’t help you if you won’t help me to understand
what you want.
In addition to making my job more difficult, it disappoints
me.
I see so many parents out with their children running errands
or just coming in for lunch and it makes me so sad when I see the children
ignored in favor of a phone.
I’ve had parents come up to order while on their phones and
they ignore their child during the whole transaction. I’ve had children run off
and cause a mess because the parent wasn’t paying attention because they were
busy talking or texting. My favorite is when kids tell their parent to pay
attention to what I am asking.
I understand, some of you are busy. Others, I can tell you’re
talking to your BFF on the phone for a half hour while your kid sits and waits
for you to finish. I doubt these parents even know what they’re doing. Or maybe
they do. Regardless, your child is only a child for so long.
I will thank these people for something, they’ve made me
realize how wonderful my parents have been my whole life. They’ve never made me
feel second to something as trite as a phone call. If we went out to lunch or
dinner, there was a ‘no phones at the table’ rule. I’d never questioned or
really thought about it, I just did. Now, as I’m older and not home to see my
family as much as I’d like, I really cherish those moments when it was just my
mom and I out shopping or being out with my dad at a restaurant he wanted me to
try. My childhood did not have the technology that today’s generation has and for that I
am very grateful because I would hate to end up like some the people I
serve almost daily.
Faith in humanity...
