"Teenagers are bad employees"

[K9soul]

Unfortunately, people in customer service jobs in general get some of the worst treatment by others, and it doesn't help if you are younger and you get an adult who feels they don't have to treat you as another human being because you are younger. There ARE kids with a lack of responsibility and ethics, I think some of that is upbringing, but they often go on to be ADULTS without a good work ethic too.

Customer service jobs in general though, even adults working in them, take a lot of verbal abuse. It is really why I couldn't wait to get out of customer service when I was younger. Unfortunately that is mostly what is available for kids needing a summer or part time job, so often their first work experiences are very stressful and unpleasant. It takes time to learn how to do things that other people have been doing for years, such as instantly know how much change is due back from a large bill. And then people often automatically assume the worst if a mistake is made, that the employee is doing it on purpose.

Unpleasant as it is, you can take the experience and always remember as you go through life and deal with other customer service people. You can smile and treat them as a person, and be patient with errors and not assume the worst, when you know what it's like on the other end. You can really make a difference in a harried person's day when you treat them with compassion and understanding instead of blowing up when a delay or mistake happens. You can turn the bad into something good later on. Just continue to take the higher road than people who have to behave with such rudeness and hurtfulness.

[Bengalz]

Unfortunately, people in customer service jobs in general get some of the worst treatment by others, and it doesn't help if you are younger and you get an adult who feels they don't have to treat you as another human being because you are younger. There ARE kids with a lack of responsibility and ethics, I think some of that is upbringing, but they often go on to be ADULTS without a good work ethic too.

Customer service jobs in general though, even adults working in them, take a lot of verbal abuse. It is really why I couldn't wait to get out of customer service when I was younger. Unfortunately that is mostly what is available for kids needing a summer or part time job, so often their first work experiences are very stressful and unpleasant. It takes time to learn how to do things that other people have been doing for years, such as instantly know how much change is due back from a large bill. And then people often automatically assume the worst if a mistake is made, that the employee is doing it on purpose.

Unpleasant as it is, you can take the experience and always remember as you go through life and deal with other customer service people. You can smile and treat them as a person, and be patient with errors and not assume the worst, when you know what it's like on the other end. You can really make a difference in a harried person's day when you treat them with compassion and understanding instead of blowing up when a delay or mistake happens. You can turn the bad into something good later on. Just continue to take the higher road than people who have to behave with such rudeness and hurtfulness.

Well said and very true! Don't let a bad experience spoil your personal ethic; take it as a lesson learned and reflect the person you want to be. You and others will benefit and therein lies the best value.

[Giselle]

You can turn the bad into something good later on. Just continue to take the higher road than people who have to behave with such rudeness and hurtfulness.

Exactly. Everyone, absolutely EVERYONE, deserves our respect. If they are complaining to me, if they give me snide comments, if they are making rude gestures, if they're passing rumors about me, I will not further the negativity. I will take it, understand where they are coming from, and use the adversity as an exercise of willpower and compassion.

I know exactly what you mean, Alyssa. I'm 16 and was the zoo camp intern this summer. Every day, I met parents who were rushed, upset, and frustrated by one thing or another trivial thing. Although their negativity could have easily frustrated me, I would not allow it and I responded back with a smile and calm composure. Every time I was met with adversity, I tried to understand their side and responded back with positive compromise.

...Do you know, that by the end of the summer, most of the staff that I worked with didn't even know my age anymore? They all thought I was 18+ (they thought I was a college student). In fact, I was even offered a job to teach the zoo camp, an opportunity formally available only to college graduates.

Dealing with humans is the same with dealing with dogs: Exude calm confidence, leadership, and never lose your temper. In a matter of weeks, everybody will gauge you by your mental maturity, and not your physical years.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Dealing with humans is the same with dealing with dogs: Exude calm confidence, leadership, and never lose your temper. In a matter of weeks, everybody will gauge you by your mental maturity, and not your physical years.

I wholeheartedly agree. I work in a job where its illigal to be under 18 (security) but if you look under 30 some people assume they can walk all over you . In security, the absolute LAST thing you want to do is loose your temper, as it makes peoples already negitive perception of the job that much worse.

[Alysser]

I know what you mean DJ, some of my friends are security guards for the park and my brother was also one for Six Flags. He says they take alot of crap. I can only imagine how much crap guest relations has to take, OMG, I'd probably be fired my first day! I have NEVER once lost my temper this entire season with a guest, because I don't want them to complain to guest relations or whatever and think SF doesn't care about their guests, but these people can be SO rude. It sometimes makes me not want to work there anymore. I like my job, I'm pretty good at it, got offered to be promoted but declined it, etc. but I can't stand the rudeness some people have. I not going to quit, but it makes the job so much more stressful then it has to be, when people are unessicarily rude because I'm younger then them.

I'm not going into games next year, it's not for me really. It's not that I don't like it, it's just not really my thing. I don't really like handling money and being faced with the public so often. I want to go into entertainment and be an escort for the characters that walk around in the huge costumes because people think it's funny to attack them. Or be a greeter for a show. My sister is in entertainment and she wants me to work with her. I know alot of people there anyway, so yeah. I WILL have to work with the public but not as much as I do now.