Working in a Restaurant Should Be Required for Every Single Citizen

The world would be a much more empathetic planet if people were able to put themselves into the shoes of others. More specifically, if people put themselves into the ugly, non-slip shoes of their server, maybe customers would be a bit more understanding when their well-done strip steak takes a bit longer than anticipated. Why not require everyone to work as a server for at least three months of their lifetime? After their three months are up, they can decide whether or not they ever want to wear an apron again. If they decide against it, they’ll always remember what it was like to do the job and maybe in the future they wouldn’t be so quick to treat a server like a servant.

This should be a requirement in high school for one semester. Gym classes have been forced upon unwilling students for decades, so let’s make students take a class that can really help them out. Restaurant 101 can slide into the curriculum as easily as any other subject. Algebra, English Lit, and a shift at Applebee’s five times week for four months could do wonders for our country.

If not a high school requirement, why not a federal mandate? There are plenty of countries that require military service of their citizens, so let’s require every single person in the United States to take a ten-top of short-tempered customers who all want hot tea and separate checks. That experience will stick with anyone for the rest of their lives.

Denmark has mandatory service for all able bodied men and they typically serve for four months. Conscientious objectors in that country can opt to serve a six-month term of non-military service instead. It’s sort of like in high school when someone was vehemently opposed to taking PE so they worked in the school office or library instead. If someone in this country cannot fathom the idea of being a server for three or four months, they can work in the kitchen or be a host.

Armenia has compulsory military service for two years for males from 18 to 27 years old. Morocco also has required military service that takes as long as 12 months for men and women alike in the age range of 19–25 with a few exceptions. After these requirements are satisfied, these people must go through life with a deep respect and understanding of those still in the military. They all shared the experience which creates empathy.

Restaurant workers deserve that same level of respect. Especially these days when customers are so quick to be upset with anyone in the food service industry. Last month, someone in St. Louis actually shot a McDonald’s worker over a dispute about french fries. If that shooter had been required to serve fries to other customers at some point in her life, maybe they could have avoided the whole “charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action” thing. It’s almost like no one remembers how to care about other people anymore.

Everyone needs to appreciate what someone else is going through. Sometimes, the only way to do that is to imagine being in their position. As soon as this country requires every single person to spend a few months taking orders, running food, bussing tables, and cleaning ketchup bottles, we will see marked shift in how the public treats those who work in restaurants.

Call your school board and demand this change! Write your congressperson and beg for legislation! The waiters and waitresses of this country need everyone to understand what it’s like to serve food for a living. If North Korea can expect the men of their country to serve in the military from the age of 17 until 30, surely we can ask our young people to work in a restaurant for 12 lousy weeks.