Getting your first job means learning on the clock. You learn to show up on time, build healthy work relationships, and, in many cases, deal with customers. Most young people start in retail or service roles, and keeping customers happy can be especially challenging.
Nobody starts their first job as a model employee; that’s why the work can be tedious and the pay low. But every day is a learning experience and, hopefully, a step closer to a real career. A story from Blackstone, Massachusetts, shows that some older folks may have forgotten what it’s like to work a first job, but the good news is that the owner stepped up to support his employees.
Coldstuff Ice Cream owners Dave Forgit and Kevin Miller caught an older customer yelling at one of their teenage employees after they overcharged them by 25 cents. “The amount of verbal abuse that these young kids get in a day is shocking to me. It’s wild,” Miller told Action News 5.
So, Forgit pushed back against the rude customers with a pretty salty post for an ice cream store owner. “STOP YELLING AT MY F**KING EMPLOYEES. They are children,” he wrote on Facebook. “This job, for most of them, is their first. They are going to make mistakes. They aren’t in charge of anything. This can all be fixed with a smile and a polite attitude.”
As if he wasn’t clear enough, Forgit had some words for the customers who threatened to stop going to the shop in the top comment: “NOBODY gives a sh*t if you don’t come back. We’d prefer it that way.”
The ice cream shop opened in August and employs six teenagers, ages 16 and 17, who usually work under an adult manager. “There seems to be a societal acceptance of being rude to service people,” Forgit told Inc., adding that older customers tend to be the ones who are rude to the teenagers. Forgit and Miller also own the nearby Goodstuff Smokehouse and Brewery, which hires more seasoned employees. “Over here it’s all adults. If you get disrespectful to an adult, they’re likely going to tell you off,” he said. “If you do that to a kid—it just seems like a power move.”
“A 16-year-old looks at you with puppy dog eyes, and they’re just like, ‘Did I really screw up that bad for somebody to treat me like that?’ And it’s like, ‘No, this is ice cream,’” Miller told CBS Boston. The small business owners have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise some extra dough for the hardworking teens with big dreams.
The Facebook post was a hit, earning over 200,000 likes, with most comments supporting the ColdStuff staff. “So we shouldn’t scream for ice cream?” Christine joked. Some folks, though, blamed the owners for their training practices.
“Put that same energy into training them, and this won’t happen,” Monte wrote. “Sounds like you’re dropping the ball by allowing them to make so many mistakes. Train them so these mistakes stop happening. Take responsibility!” William added.
A commenter named Jenny nailed it on the head:
“Young people don’t want to work anymore 😠”
*young person is working*
“Let me make this teenager’s life a living hell for the next ten minutes.”
Ultimately, Coldstuff’s owners may need to have their mouths washed out with soap for their coarse language on Facebook. But that doesn’t mean their hearts aren’t in the right place. In a world where many employees are treated as disposable, it’s beautiful to see small business owners teach their young employees a great life lesson about how to stand up for one another.
