The Ugly Truth of Working in the Food Industry

We live in a society where online ratings matter when it comes to choosing where you want to eat. Yelp, for example, is a popular app/website that allows restaurant owners to promote their businesses while customers are able to leave an online tip and review the business. Some leave a hateful comment due to being mad and some post about how much they love the place. Regardless of what happens during an experience at a restaurant, I learned that there will always be that one customer that will never be satisfied even if you, the worker, give your best service. Servers are underestimated for how much they do for their customers. From my experience of being a waitress for three years, I can honestly say that I have never been treated so horribly especially by a stranger. Don’t get me wrong, there are many kind and respectful customers out there and I know that my job is to give my service to others, however, there is a difference between serving and being disrespected as a human being. 

Before I start, I would like to say that yes, I understand what my job as a server, requires. I also understand that the customer has the right to communicate when their order is wrong. I will never argue against that. What I want to shed light on is that the way customers go about it or treat an employee is degrading and dehumanizing.

Race plays a huge role in how customers treat you. I am an Asian American womxn who has experienced racist comments from customers who were mainly Caucasian. For example, I had a womxn tell me “why do all you Asians always gotta eat rice with everything? You guys are so obsessed with rice, I can’t eat that every day.” To this day, I will never forget those words that came out of her mouth. I was, of course, offended not only by her stereotype but I was also shocked that she had the audacity to say that to my face, knowing that I am Asian. People like that are uneducated and will usually think that all Asians are the same race. I work at a Thai restaurant which means that the food that I serve, is only Thai food. For example, there were many times where I have been asked “do you have miso soup?” or “do you have ramen or sushi here?” And my response will kindly always be “no, we do not, that’s Japanese food.” Another encounter was that a family came to sit down with the intention to be respectful, they greet me with the words  “Ni hao,” which means “hello” in Chinese. That, I brushed it off because it was funny to me that they actually thought it was Thai but I can’t blame others for not knowing the difference between other cultures due to being uneducated. However, I feel sorry for them because it makes them come off as ignorant.

At my workplace, we are a group of people of color. We take phone orders for delivery and our delivery drivers are Thai and Guatemalan. Another racial encounter that I have witnessed was the time when a womxn was calling to complain about her order. I did not mind solving the issue, however, what rubbed me the wrong way was that she described one of our drivers, who was Thai, as “the old Chinese man” and that she wants the “little Mexican guy” to bring back another dish. I had no other choice but to correct her and tell her that those men she mentioned were not in fact, Chinese nor Mexican. I understand people will not automatically know what race a person is, however it comes off the wrong way when they assume what race the workers are based on their appearance or accent. 

The most recent disrespectful encounter that I have experienced was the time when a customer yelled to call me “an idiot” and to “shut the f*** up.” In my defense, the customer had told me that he ordered through the phone when there was no order at all. Turns out, his wife ordered the food through a third-party app known as Postmates but did not communicate that to him. It was not any of our faults but his and his response was to insult me by name-calling and to tell me to “shut the f*** up.” The ugliness of working in the food industry is the rude customers.

From my experience, I have encountered both racial and dehumanizing situations with customers. It takes a lot of patience and thick skin to deal with childish and uneducated people which makes customer service a hard environment to be in. In conclusion, these experiences are only a small list of what I have witnessed. Food workers deserve to be treated as human beings, not servants. We also need to normalize that customers like them need to be exposed. It takes minimal effort to be kind and at least say “thank you” to these workers!

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