What to take away from all those service jobs

We all go through it. It is a right of passage, obtaining the subpar, low key (and often low paying) service jobs that see you through high school, university and sometimes even beyond that when you’re in between jobs. Personally, I’ve been through my fair share, countless waitressing roles, bartending, cleaning, call centre operator and checkout chick. The only fields I haven’t touched are retail and fast food. I’ve had at least two casual jobs per year since 2011, some of them simultaneously. I think there have been roughly 14 jobs, but honestly I could be mistaken. The point being I spent many hours doing work I didn’t love. But I truly feel this isn’t all for nothing. I’ve taken away a few skills I wouldn’t have without these experiences (Hello, yes I can carry four plates at once, pour champagne into a moving flute and rearrange a whole restaurant of seating in 15 minutes) but more importantly I have the life experience of many years of working in the service industry. Empathy is probably the biggest placeholder in my little collection of experiences of many subpar jobs. Your waitperson that is struggling with a full house and limited support staff- be kind to them, be patient. Having the ability to read people, interpret their wants and needs, deliver those, and stomp out any potential spot fires that may cause upset- it is a true skill, and an underestimated one at that. Work any kind of service job for a couple of years, and your ability to summarise people’s needs and wants in a matter of minutes is near flawless. Most importantly, working a job you don’t love, truly makes you appreciate and value working a job you do love. You can’t understand how good something is, until you’ve seen the harsh alternate. To anyone who’s still working the job they don’t love, I feel your frustration. But don’t forget those things you can take away from it, they can only help you in the long run.