by Lauren Dame
Arts, Style, and Beauty Editor
The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
As upperclassmen begin to consider their life after high school, one thing that will be new for most students is both financial understanding and responsibility. One way to prepare for this responsibility and save money for college or other after-high school plans is to get a job. One of the most common jobs for a high school student is within the food service industry.
Since covid hit, essential workers including food service workers are needed now more than ever. Businesses are desperate for workers as less and less people are willing to work for minimum wage when there are other government-initiated alternatives.Just as working food service isn’t worth it to most adults now, is it worth it to students? Is it worth it to students and mostly upperclassmen to use what little free time they have to make minimum wage or just above?
Tough experiences that food service workers deal with from time to time leave customers seeming rude or ignorant. Experiences like these often help these workers compose the belief that everyone should work in the food industry at least once in their life. Grace Ahrens (11) is a vital part of the staff at her job, and has worked for a long time. She says, “the industry gives you so many opportunities to gain skills in life that you might not have ever thought you would actually need.” Working a food service job might leave you a different person, perhaps one that has more empathy for anyone working in the industry. She ends by saying, “personally I’ve gotten the opportunity to watch individuals grow from a shy follower to an outgoing leader.” Especially when businesses are hurting and employing people is so difficult, empathy is something that everyone should have for food workers that are full-time students.
One important aspect of the food industry when it comes to students are the experiences that they have with customers. Some out-of-touch people don’t realize or care to realize that there are minors behind the scenes, taking orders. Or even keeping the place up and running. Bad encounters with customers are unfortunately inevitable.
Senior Amanda Baker has been at her job an entire year and can recall many bad customer experiences. She tells about one in particular, “when a customers’ husband asked for the wrong flavor, and after telling him we didn’t have it and that we had alternatives, he instead left and had his wife call to complain.” Seems unnecessary… Baker continues, “she yelled at us on the phone for about 10 minutes saying that we told her we did not have the flavor they’d asked for- it was a flavor we always had, so no one would’ve told her we didn’t have it.” Simple misunderstandings don’t need to be made complicated. She adds that “she even demanded free things, so we ended up giving her the number to the store owner to see what he could do. Eventually, we found out that the flavor she asked for was ‘wedding cake’ instead of ‘cake batter’ and the whole situation could’ve been avoided if she hadn’t yelled at us and gone to extremes.” When people cannot have patience for things as simple as ice cream flavors, it might affect other customers and the staff that was on shift.
One of the biggest learning experiences of being a student with a job is the lesson of time management. Grace Markusic (11) says, “being a student while having a job is all about balance to me.” Considering all aspects of life, working a job in between everything else in a schedule can become overwhelming quickly. She adds, “making sure I have time for other commitments and free time is difficult if I work a lot of days in the week along with school, so finding a balance where I can juggle everything without lots of stress is super important with a job.” This is why it’s crucial to acknowledge student workers; they work hard.
When it comes to tipping food service workers, customers have different criteria for tipping. Workers in the industry have varying opinions, but most of their income comes from tips. Baker says, “I am a strong believer in always tipping 20% no matter what. As someone who works for tips it can be frustrating when you work so hard to please someone and you feel unappreciated for it.” She mentions a popular opinion, “I think that if you don’t have enough money to tip, you shouldn’t be eating out at all.” Tipping can go a long way, and when someone is working hard, they deserve to go home with more than minimum wage. Grace Markusic, more concerned about the service, says, “I think it really depends on the customer’s experience with the restaurant. If they felt welcomed and treated with hospitality, they might consider tipping, just as something to give back to the restaurant and the notion that they think the employees are doing a good job.” Now with online ordering, it is often found that tipping is part of a fee and customers don’t have a choice. While this ensures that employees are making closer to what they deserve, does it ensure exceptional service?
Certainly a life-changing experience for all students, jobs in the food industry have drastically changed in recent years and will continue to change. The lesson of balance that students are learning with their jobs will be incredibly beneficial to them in the future.