Worker Empathy

There's a special kind of empathy you build when you work a job. When you work somewhere, you get to see the place you work at in a way that you probably didn't realize you were going to when you started. Usually, it's because you don't think about the details of what goes into whatever job you applied for, and you realize just how bad most low-level employees have it. Whether it's the kid working in the Burger King, or the people who're lying through their teeth to sell you something, you can't not have that experience after working somewhere.

This means you're much more likely to feel sorry for the people who work there during or even after you leave. I'm personally more likely to be little nicer to fast-food employees (not complaining when they get an order wrong unless it's  really something I can't fix), after having worked there. Even when it's entirely their fault, I can't help but put myself in their shoes. As an employee at a fast-food place, I was the most colossal fuck-up you could think of. I would routinely take the "hole" -- the window that's set up exclusively to take money when things get busy -- because it meant that I was out of sight and could goof around and just sit at work, which was a no-no. I would routinely walk around the place so I'd look like I was doing something, and it did a number on my legs. The one thing I could never get over when I worked there was how much my feet always hurt no matter what I kind of shoes I tried out there.

This leads to project myself into the people I see working. I want to be the guy who cuts them a break, if not thank them. Because employees at most places aren't ever given slack. The best thing a customer ever did for me was let me keep his dollar change, after saying "Nah, you keep it. you probably deserve it by now, serving people like us. We suck."

I could go on forever reciting anecdotes from my year working at a Burger King, but I'll leave at this for now. Just remember; the dude working the register at a store doesn't really want to be there most of the time any more than you want to talk to them.