After I came back from my summer vacation this year, I decided that I needed a job to pass time, but I don’t want anything serious like a business internship that requires me to put in hard work. So I thought about applying to cafes and bubble tea shops. Ever since when I was a little, i always had this fantasy about opening cafes and working as a barista. So when I saw a job opening for Gongcha on Indeed, I was super excited. I thought to myself, your dream is about to come true! If you don’t know what Gongcha is, let me educate you real quick. Gongcha is a Taiwanese bubble tea drink franchise, and I always enjoyed drinking their bubble teas. I applied right away, speed through the interview process, and BAM! I got the job.  

I had high hopes for this job. I imagined it to be super fun and chill and I’ll just get paid without having to work and stress much. Well, I was completely wrong. The difficult part was not remembering all the standard procedures for making drinks, it was dealing with annoying customers.  Before working at Gongcha, I never had any retail experiences. So I didn’t know what to expect at all. I still remember vividly my first encounter with a rude customer. In Gongcha, we have the options of choosing sugar and ice level for drinks. This is supposed to be helpful when it comes to customizing your drinks. But customers think that this process is redundant and stupid. So there I was, repeating ten drinks to this lady and making sure the sugar and ice level were correct so she doesn’t come back and haunt me with it. She stopped listening when I got up to the third drink and started talking to her friends. But I still had to do my job so I continue to list the sugar and ice levels. She shoves me her credit card the moment I finished speaking and wanted her drinks right away. I feel like at this point you can guess where this story is heading to. After we finish making the order, she grabbed her drink and immediately complained after she took a sip. “Excuse me, this is not sweet at all.  And why is there so much ice in these drinks?” At that moment, all I can think of is every possible curse word I can use against this customer. But of course, I had to be as professional as possible so I tried my best to explain to her. My manager saw that I was struggling and she saved me from entering an argument with this lady.  

I just wanted to share this little story with you guys today because the one thing that I learn from working there was that just because we are customers, that doesn’t give us the right to be rude to those who are offering us services. So next time when the person who’s taking your order ask you just one more question, just be patient and answer them. It will make both of your lives easier.