Ever gotten your foot-long Italian BMT with a side of attitude? I know I have. I’m not asking for Disney World “happiest place on earth” customer service, but can some of the workers manning the food stations in the UC food court summon a grain of respect for the customer paying for a mediocre meal?
I have had experiences where the cashiers let their friends cut in the line, where workers are too busy gossiping amongst themselves to take your order, or when they are just too fed up to form what should have been a decent sandwich.
Look, I’ve worked retail before. Hell, I’ve worked at NSU’s bookstore before. So, I know how it feels to have idiot customers and want to either slam my head into the register – or their heads – for asking inane questions or for making ridiculous demands. However, serving food shouldn’t be that difficult of a task. Especially when the customer is being civil.
I am not surprised at how many people I know who have shared their god-awful experiences involving the food court staff. Really, it doesn’t shock me. I’ve been going to NSU for almost four years now, and the service has always been the same for the most part — unprofessional and bitter. Honestly, eating in the UC and having all my meals made by people who clearly hate life annoyed me and was one of the reasons why I moved off-campus. Why should I pay for attitude?
I don’t want to cause problems for the few who actually do their job and treat their customers like, well, human beings. Really, thanks guys.
But the ones (you definitely know who you are) who refuse to embody an ounce of professionalism, this one’s for you.
As a student, why would you want to treat another student badly? It makes zero sense to me. Unless a customer comes at you with an attitude, it’s unfair to treat others rudely when they’re just trying to get a quick bite to eat before jumping into a four-hour class. As a former residential student, my parents had to pay the declining balance for my meals (thanks, mom!), and I’m sure it would piss her off to know that my own classmates are basically slopping together a mess of food at insanely high prices. Why not just throw it in my face and steal my wallet next time?
Sorry, I pay a ton of money to come to this school (like everyone else), so please, treat your customers, your fellow students, with some respect. I’m not asking for much, I’m taking up three minutes of your life — max. Unless, for some inexplicable reason, the cashier decides to draw it out to an outrageous 20 minutes for a burger or 15 minutes for a smoothie.
Ahem. Yes, I am timing the workers. Why? Because I have things to do. I have classes to attend. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice a meal to save on time because the people serving can’t get themselves together and stop goofing off. Next time someone asks for lettuce, please don’t dump the whole tin inside the bread to spite them or roll your eyes when we ask for something you just ran out of (because customers are clearly blessed with an all-knowing ability and love watching you suffer?).
As a student, I respect what the food court staff needs to do in order to make a living. As a customer, I expect professionalism and efficiency. I don’t see why those two lines need to be blurred during the lunch hour.
