Retail and the food service industry are two necessary evils in this world. The work is tasking and sometimes downright miserable. I say this from experience. But it’s an experience that teaches you invaluable life skills. During my time as a food service worker, I learned things I might’ve never otherwise.

Despite what some people say, it’s not an easy job. The smell of food permeates your skin until you don’t even notice it anymore (but trust me, other people do), you become sick of meals you never thought you would, and clopen (close-open) shifts are all too prevalent.

Not to mention the physical and emotional toll it takes. Your feet hurt after every shift, your hands peel after washing dishes all day, and the kitchen heat is borderline suffocating. On top of that, customers are very comfortable tasking you with ridiculous requests, the constant flow of customers means little downtime, and the revolving-door nature of the industry means you’ll often be short-staffed.

I’ve heard countless stories of the abuse food service workers have endured— from both customers and management. It’s an often thankless job that employs 7% of the country’s workforce.

For an industry with such a large effect on the economy, you’d think food service workers would be shown a little more gratitude. You learn that people have a tendency to demand a service from you while simultaneously degrading you for it.

But it pays the bills. And although the work was labouring, I’ve managed to have some amazing experiences in my food service jobs.

You become close with the most random assortment of people— people you would’ve never talked to otherwise; the only people in the world who understand your job. The casualness of the work environment is liberating, and if you’re cool with your manager, you can basically do whatever you want.

I’ve never had that sort of freedom in any of my office jobs, and I can honestly say I miss it sometimes.

It’s not a free-for-all, though. Having that level of freedom made me a better worker because I had to be. The environment is chaotically fast-paced, and unless you want to fall behind, you have to be an effective multitasker. You also have to learn how to organize yourself, build routines, and learn how to communicate with others.

Most of all, you learn how to be likeable. I think that’s the most important skill of all. Before this experience, I was painfully shy, didn’t know how to stand up for myself, and was really bad at approaching people. But that didn’t really get me tips, and made the job harder than it had to be.

So, I had to let go a little. I had to become a little more fearless. I had to learn when it was necessary to politely rush a customer, call a co-worker out when they did something wrong, and confront my manager when he messed my schedule up (which is inevitable).

I’ve always had a good work ethic (thanks, anxiety), but my food service job improved that immensely.

People tend to look down on food-service workers for having what’s seen as a ‘lesser’ job. While it’s true that it starts at minimum wage, is often entry-level, and doesn’t usually require complicated qualifications, the audacity to treat food service workers as though they’re lazy and not hard working is unwarranted— and wrong.

Food service workers are more valuable to society than most people realize. Who else is gonna make your burrito bowl when you’re too tired to cook after work? Who else will give up their evenings, weekends, and holidays? Who else provides the services that allow us the luxury of being a little lazy from time to time?

A food service worker. So tip what you can and say thank you.

I’m more of a hard worker because of my food service job. And more importantly? I’m a better person because of it.

Amanda Monterroso ⁠— is a 2nd-year Professional Writing Student who will try (mostly) any food at least once, has a bookshelf full of unread books, loves writing poetry, and hates writing bios. Follow her on Instagram: @quietsonginthenight