No, I Can't Actually Be Nicer
Presented by WeldWerks Brewing Co.
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By Gin Ju Im
After watching me crank orders and drinks during a long, brutally hot, sweaty shift this summer, an acquaintance told me, “It takes a tough motherfucker to do what you do.”
I wasn’t always like this. My social anxiety used to be so bad that I had trouble introducing myself to strangers, and I couldn’t speak up in parliamentary procedure in college without breaking into a sweat and feeling like I might burst into tears from my stage fright.
I worked in aggressive crowds in Denver with countless shifts of them screaming and cussing at me, hitting me racial slurs, throwing stuff at me and my coworkers, and literally rubbing their cash in my face to get my attention while trying to make drinks, reaching across the bar to shove me. After these experiences, I considered my exterior more of a place to hide rather than my actual skin.
This was only at one job, and it was a typical Denver “yestaurant”: no matter how awful you are, no one is going to kick you out because Yelp reviews. At the time, my personal life was going really well, and my depression and anxiety were pretty well in check, but I would go home and cry myself to sleep from the crippling amount of pressure I was under to serve people who were abusive for endless hours every week.
Now that I’m back in San Antonio, I’m finally working for people who started out in bartending and don’t tolerate abuse of their employees. The motto is to keep calm and move ‘em along, but sometimes, you get someone who just wants a fight.
This customer complained about every little thing that was being done to accommodate everything they vocalized unhappiness about, and the experience chipped away at my ability to smile while interacting with them. When I was finally able to close them out, they continued to insult me by telling me, “You need to work on your customer service and smile more. Can’t you be nicer?”
I haven’t been able to get this sentiment out of my head. It’s been something that I’ve been picking apart for weeks, no, I actually can’t be nicer. I will however focus on keeping calm and moving you along, but you’ve crossed my boundaries and have qualified as abusive.
And no, I’m no longer contributing to the proliferation of Danny Meyer empowered monsters. That isn’t the legacy I want to leave behind for our next generation of people in the hospitality industry, especially when there’s a movement to bring more BIPOC people to the forefront in the front of house side of things. And no, I’m no longer perpetuating the idea that we’re only good at our jobs when we can handle excessive abuse with grace. We are human beings.
Established in 2015, WeldWerks Brewing Co. is an award-winning craft brewery located in Greeley, Colorado recognized for brewing an array of beer styles including Juicy Bits, one of the most highly regarded IPAs in the country. WeldWerks has garnered numerous medals and acclaim on the way, including being named the best new brewery in the country by USA Today in 2016 and multiple medals at both the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup. The brewery’s charitable arm, the WeldWerks Community Foundation, is a 501c3 nonprofit that supports local nonprofits through events like The WeldWerks Invitational.
Gin Ju considers herself a womb-to-the-tomb industry lifer because her mom was a pregnant waitress. She has been working front-of-house on-and-off for the last 18 years and cut her teeth bartending while living in Denver for 6 years. A dream-come-true job with Boulevardier Group in San Antonio has brought this born-and-raised Texan home, and she has been thriving under their coaching and leadership.
Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Best Served. To achieve our mission of bringing more voices to the table, we are committed to sharing a variety of viewpoints across the industry.
