May I take your order and not your 'tude?

I wouldn't say I'm the dimmest bulb in the box - I'm getting an education at a reputable college and managing to do well in my courses - but I think waitressing is one of the most difficult jobs in the world. I never expected it, but keeping each table on your mind and ensuring that everyone is constantly satisfied makes rocket science seem like a cinch.

I will openly admit that I was not the best waitress. Probably more toward the "worst" end of the spectrum. Regardless, what really struck me about my experience in the food service industry was the way customers treated me.

I started out working at Dairy Queen the summer after 11th grade. It was my first job, so I sported the signature t-shirt proudly. I remember vividly that my first customers were a dad and his two sons, and I was relieved - but I shouldn't have been. They all ordered Blizzards, so I made sure there was just the right amount of ice cream and candy, blended the drinks and meticulously lined them up on the counter.

The dad picked up his drink first and immediately exploded: "Are you kidding me? This is straight milk! Disgusting. I am not paying for this; make a new one."

And as the cup hit the counter, my stomach hit the floor. I picked up the cup, my hand shaking, and remade every drink as his sons watched me, wide-eyed.

Thinking back on it now, I understand that the man was paying for the drinks, so they should have been worth the money. But for the way he reacted to what I set on the counter, you'd think I'd filled those cups up with tar. When I finally remade them to his liking, he slapped the money in my hand, beckoned to his boys and stalked out.

Maybe he thought that I was just a child, so I didn't matter. Maybe he thought that I didn't care enough about the job. But regardless, I was left feeling worthless. I wanted to quit immediately.

Two summers later, I got a waitressing job at a nice hotel. I worked on the deck with all the other students -- because we were only there for the summer, we weren't allowed to work inside where the real money was.

One day I had to serve a table of 20 people having a business conference. It was obvious who the head honcho was: a woman in a closely cropped black suit sitting haughtily at the head of the table.

I took everyone's drink orders, making sure to get the suit woman's exactly right. I balanced the tray of glasses on my hand and walked around the table setting down each person's drink. When I got to the head honcho, however, it all went wrong. I dropped the tray with the last drink on it and the water crashed to the floor, some splashing on her suit. She started screaming: "What the f**k! I just got this f**king dry-cleaned! Get me a towel now--and your manager!"

When I got back she was calm again, casually talking with the people on either side of her at the table. As she snatched the towel from me, I started to get angry.

I knew that it was my mistake for having spilled the drink on her. But she had just lost her temper and made me look like the stupidest person alive in front of 19 other people, yet was so quickly able to regain composure in conversation with the people she considered to be her peers.

My waitressing days are over for now, but the experience has made me that much more aware of how people treat workers in the food service industry, even here on this campus.

I see students waiting in line at Tyler's who slam their SpiderCards on the counter if the cashier takes more than five minutes. I've heard students in D-Hall say that the food looks "repulsive," directly in earshot of the cooks standing behind it.

Del Jones wrote an article for USA Today in 2006 called, "CEOs say how you treat your waiter can predict a lot about your character" that I found to be highly accurate. The people who calmly told me that I had forgotten to take their salad order and the fiery woman in the black suit both let me know a lot about their character, or lack thereof.

"It's hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything," Jones wrote, "but all interviewed agree with the Waiter Rule ... How others treat the CEO says nothing, they say. But how others treat the waiter is like a magical window into the soul."

I guess my point is: Don't act like you're better than people just because they're serving you. Service people are not slaves, and they are not immune to rude comments. Food service is a job just like any other and workers deserve the same amount of respect as the CEO of a major company.

At the end of the day, we're all people. Whether you're a doctor, a lawyer, a truck driver or a waiter, our career choices should not define how we are treated. Especially in this economy, you never know what your next job might be, so karma could come back to haunt you.

Next time you're thinking about being rude to a waitress, I'd like to close with a little reminder from a Twitter account under the name Waitress Tales:

"Screw you b*tch, the chicken was cooked to order, $2 is a fair price for a glass of milk and you should have tipped because your kids are slobs"