Do You Want a Cup of Tea?

Hello, lovelies! ♥

I have been so inactive on this blog - and it's mainly because of university and work. It got be so tired most of the time and I think I am now struggling a bit with health, which is something new, unfortunately.

Recently, I joined an advice group on Facebook and we all started sharing stories about our bad experiences in working in retail, hospitality or just service in general. It made me feel incredibly blessed that I just have to put up with the occasional rude customer, instead of, the dangerous, or, terrible things which some of these poor girls have experienced. It made me reflect and think to what I always say to my mother - no job is easy.

When I got my first part time job/casual job at 18, I really grew as a person. I have always had the biggest amount of respect to those girls or guys who started work at 13, 14, 15 or even 16 years of age. That is something I think a lot of people forget when they walk into a fast food outlet, restaurant or any kind of shop: you are being served by teenagers, yes, who have the reputation of being moody, and it is so very easy to pin any problem you have on them for that reason, but they are still VERY YOUNG. Contrary to popular belief, young people do work and know the hardships of needing to work to achieve something. These kids are in school, working while studying, and here they are, serving your food and earning their own money with their own efforts from a young age. Isn't that something admirable - seeing someone of a young age working to make your food, or, bring your clothes or whatever, and they are probably half your age half the time?

Also, the jobs that people look down upon - do they not realize that they are simply supplying to the demand? A job, no matter how looked down upon, exists because there is a want for it and a need for it. You cannot look down on people for doing that.

I will never, ever understand why it is so hard to be nice to retail or hospitality employees. Why is it so nice to be patient, be kind, and be understanding? From my experience, whenever a customer is rude, it makes me so anxious and it stays in my mind for weeks and weeks. Yes, it sucks when something goes wrong, but things do happen even at the best places. I am sure no one walks into their job, no matter how much they hate it, and have the mindset that they wish for something to go wrong. I believe that if something happens and the service provided is not 100% just that once, you can easily excuse them and still be patient and kind, it is only if something happens several times that it is inexcusable. Of course, there would be exceptions, like if it's a really expensive meal or something.

"Every job is hard", is something I say a lot to my mum. She often compares my job and my Dads job to hers and how ours is a lot easier etc. Of course, I acknowledge she has to put a lot of efforts and work into her job, but, it does not mean we have an easy job. Due to my work ethic, where I put 100% in and literally use my whole body to get everything done quickly, it puts a big physical strain on me which I have started to notice in the past six months with terrible knee pain and back pain. I keep this to myself and not complain, which probably gives the impression that I have no stress or strain on myself. They are different jobs, but jobs nonetheless.

Sometimes, I think, "It must be so good to be celebrity, and have people love you and you can travel a lot, etc."  but that is a little naive to think of me. I think if a job looks easy, it means that they have struggled, made sacrifices, and worked hard to get to that stage. We are all still at that stage. Even if you take Kim Kardashian as an example, she recently went through a horrific robbery that has probably scarred her mental health for life. The huge amount of haters she has reared their ugly heads and said the most awful stuff to her, and people think her job is super easy? Don't think so.

Basically, I think we should treat everyone with respect and patience, as well as, respect anyone's efforts. No matter who it is.

Enjoy life!

Nina