KateAnn McLaughlin

At the end of my freshman year of high school, I began my first job at the local ice cream place. For the next three years, I worked year round at Scoops with my two older sisters. Working at Scoops wasn't my favorite job and there were plenty of times where I considered quitting. I might've worked at an ice cream place, but I wouldn't call it a fun job. I've definitely had to deal with my fair share of rude customers.

Over the summer, I was working with my older sister when an older couple came in. After they both ordered, the husband went to eat his ice cream while the woman paid. When we told her it was cash only, she flipped out. She yelled at us for not having signs, despite the three signs we had in the store. She also demanded that we let her return the ice cream, including the cup that her husband had already started eating. We refused, for obvious reasons. She continued to berate us until she managed to scrounge up $7 in random bills and coins from her car.

Working in customer service really tests your patience. Customers can be aggravating but you have to keep your cool no matter what. It can be difficult at times but for every rude customer, we have ten nice customers who make the job so much easier. Those kind of customers were the reason I continued to work at Scoops for three years, despite all the complaining I might have done. I learned to always treat service workers with extra kindness, because you never know who they've already had to deal with that day.