I have had the absolute — let me find the word for it — pleasure, yeah, sure, pleasure of working in both the food and retail industry. Having worked in these magical fields, I have learned so much about myself and other people. If it has taught me anything, it’s how to be a decent human being — and how to spot someone who’s never worked in either industry from a mile away. 

Don’t think you can hide from me. I will most definitely be able to clock you based on one simple conversation. 

Now, you may be thinking: That’s not possible, how can I tell someone’s employment history from one measly exchange?

It’s actually super easy to tell, and you Karens aren’t going to like it. How you treat people who work in the service industry is extremely telling. If you are patient, respectful and understanding, I can tell you have experienced some of the horrors that go along with the service industry. But if you are rude, condescending and unapologetically entitled, it tells me everything I need to know. 

Of course, there are always exceptions. There are some servers and cashiers who genuinely deserve to be chastised because they can be rude and bad at their job. There are also some very kind and patient people who have never worked in the service industry. My claim is not a one-size fits all kind of statement. 

OK — I’m going to say it. Everyone should have to work in the service industry at some point in their life, because it will teach our society to be decent and respectable people in all aspects of life. 

I want you to picture this, and if you can’t put yourself in this situation, imagine your child in it. You endure a day full of classes starting from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. before immediately throwing on your uniform and clocking in until 10 p.m. While you’re trying to simply make it through the day with a smile, someone degrades you and calls you stupid because, in your exhausted state, you forgot to add an extra pair of chopsticks to their order. 

If you think degrading anyone like this, for any reason, is OK, then we have a bigger problem. 

Ask anyone who has worked in the service industry — there is nothing easy about these kinds of jobs. I know people treat servers poorly because there’s this belief that service is an easy job for lazy people who can’t make it in the real world. I’ve heard that statement too many times to count. Remember, we’re all people at the end of the day. 

I’m just a girl, working in a restaurant, asking you to treat me with respect. 

Which is, surprisingly, a lot to ask of some people. I understand that we all have our own lives and struggles. We’ve all had our regrettable moments in a restaurant taking out our frustrations on our poor server. But my current employment shouldn’t dictate the amount of respect I receive. 

Everyone deserves kindness. Even your server and the random stranger swiping your card in the T.J. Maxx checkout line. Everyone. 

In this industry, we remember the good and the bad patrons. We do better work for the patrons who are kind, going out of our way to show we appreciate you, and we argue over who has to be saddled with the bad ones. I don’t think anyone wants to be remembered for being unagreeable and mean. 

What’s that saying — you attract more flies with honey than vinegar? If you’re kind and understanding, I can guarantee you will be given better service than someone who is not. 

Going through the trenches of college life with a tough job on top of it all has taught me how to be decent and kind while under immense stress and pressure. It has taught me how to be patient, which, if you ask my parents, hasn’t been a virtue of mine until working in this industry. It has taught me how to stretch my bandwidth and still retain my dignity and kindness. 

Slinging sushi and swiping credit cards for condescending peers and parents has made me kinder and softer to the world. These encounters could have hardened me and made me impatient and cruel, but they didn’t. They did the exact opposite.

We need more kindness in the world, and it starts with empathy. It starts with the first time you cry after work because of how someone treated you. The first time you are eating with someone and they embarrass you because of how they treated their server. The first time a group of 12 comes in 15 minutes before closing and you have to seat them. 

The time you spend in the service industry will change how you function in the world entirely. Everyone should navigate the world with kindness as a priority, and remember, we’re all trying to make it to the next day. 

So, the next time you feel your server isn’t being attentive enough, or your sales associate brought you the wrong size, try putting yourself in their shoes.

Stay kind, stay patient and apply for that job at your local restaurant. It may make you a better person.

Maddie McMurrough is an agricultural communications and journalism senior and opinion columnist for The Battalion.