I Despise the Service Industry

Now, let me get one thing straight when I say that I despise the service industry. I do not despise the industry as a whole. It performs a valuable duty by providing services. There are, however, certain areas of the service industry that I do loathe with a fury like that of a thousand suns gone nova. What I hate is a certain sector of the service industry. In a word or two: fast food joints and their ilk.

What I don't like is the whole stigma surrounding them. When you look at it, they are the most profitable sector in the service industry accounting for billions of dollars in revenue. It pains me that so many would rather go to some fast food joint for "comfort food" than do other things. When I worked Thanksgiving, the place was packed. Lots of people. I saw more people coming in to Tim Hortons to get their coffee fix than staying at home with friends and family. And it isn't just that that bothers me. I had a woman come in and order a coffee one time. She tells me she wants sweetener in her coffee, not sugar. Tells me it's because she's trying to watch her weight. Then she orders a donut! I was so incredulous that I outright told her to skip the donut and take the sugar. At least you know the sugar is healthy for you -- sweetener, as I've read in a few articles and studies, is bad for you and the environment. Well, suffice to say, the woman got angry.

Another is people asking for both milk and cream in their coffee, thinking this is somehow a healthier choice. As though they need to justify the fact they're splurging on the most unhealthy things.

It isn't just the way people justify their crappy existence, but the attitudes that come with it. Airy ideas of superiority when they make their orders, or believing that I can somehow read their mind. People who see me working and think I'm a lower lifeform and that I'm some meek creature that won't talk back. Uh, hate to break it to you, but I've got a mind and I use it. And I'm lippy. An example? Well, one night a woman got locked in a stall in the woman's washroom. He screamed for help. I had to lift the door off the hinges to get her out. The lock had broke. I put the door back on and put a sign on the door stating that this particular stall is out of order. Well, not even a half hour later, some other woman comes up to me, bitching to me about how she'd gotten locked in one of the stalls and had to climb under the door to get herself out. The conversation went something along the lines of:

"Uh-huh. So, was there an out of order sign on the door?"

"What? No, there was no sign on the door."

"Really? So, if I go into the woman's washroom, and I see the sign on the door, and you used that stall knowing full well that perhaps that sign is there for a reason, you absolve me of all problems because of your own screw-up."

The woman didn't like the idea that I would so easily catch her in her own little lie. She pretty much gave up trying to be lippy with me since it was a losing battle on her side. As for the job in general, the persons I have that come in there, they just frustrate me to no end. I'm tired of the retarded morons that come in there. I can't wait to move and leave this job in the ditch. I despise the service industry.