Opinion: This One Goes Out To Every Whiny Brat Restaurant Customer

---

You know how, as a kid, if you were behaving like a whiny brat, your parents would say they hope you have children one day so you’ll find out what it’s like? Spoiler alert: No need to wait until parenthood. Just take a job in an American service industry.

When I hear about the “Great Resignation” and the government report last week that a record 4.4 million workers quit their jobs in September, nearly a million of them in the hospitality business (The Post recently reported on “the fast-food workers’ season of rebellion”), I just feel jealous.

I live in Georgia and work at a chain restaurant, where my weekly paycheck depends on the $7.25 minimum-wage-plus-tip-share combo. With taxes and other fees taking out a depressing amount, and inflation hitting 6 percent last month, the 40-hour workweek and the stress it brings make the job seem hardly worth it.

From customers berating me and my co-workers because we’re out of ranch dressing for their takeout order (we all know you have some at home) to being yelled at for things I can’t control (I didn’t overcook your steak; I’ve never cooked a steak, period), to closing up after a double shift at 11 p.m. and getting less in tips than you’d see in a street player’s guitar case on a Tuesday afternoon, I’m quickly running out of patience and the willingness to work.

On top of this, I’m a high school senior taking four Advanced Placement classes, dual enrolling at my local university, submitting college applications and trying to do enough extracurriculars to convince admissions officers that I’m the next Mother Teresa or Elon Musk.

Author: Daphne Crawford
Date: November 16, 2021
Source and Complete Article: washingtonpost.com