Be nice to people who serve you because you never know who has the capacity to spit in your hamburger.

That is the thought that scares me into silence when I pull away from the drive-thru at Burger King and my order isn't exactly "my way."

I also keep my comments to myself because I know how those poor souls behind the counter feel. I have worked several thankless jobs in the food and retail industries.

I was a room service runner for three desperate months of my life at Boomtown Casino and Hotel in Bossier City. It wasn't a bad facility, it's just that drunken casino hoppers aren't exactly enthusiastic about having a nice, hot breakfast after they've lost their rent checks.

My only saving grace was that my best friend also worked there and often we had the same 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shifts. We did room service out of a little cafŽ just before you get on the ramp to go on the boat. During training, we watched at least a dozen customer service videos and worked different shifts to get a feel of what the job required of us. On the night we worked the graveyard shift we learned that juggling syrup packets probably was not as entertaining as the guys juggling fish in the video.

Our least favorite job was doing tray runs. On tray runs we had to go to the hotel and pick up all the discarded trays. Often the trays had been in the rooms for days. Sometimes the half-eaten food was covered in ants. Sometimes it wasn't. Those were the good days.

After about a week I realized that a knock on the door and a delightful "Room service!" did not always guarantee the people inside would be fully clothed or in a tipping kind of mood.

I've also worked at a bridal and formal dress shop in Bossier City off and on for about four years. Usually it's only during prom season but the stigma of that time usually doesn't wear off until the prom girls I've helped have moved on to college.

Imagine. It's five minutes until closing after a long day of gaining a sore thumb from obstinate zippers and listening to mothers fight with their crying daughters about a dress/shoe/necklace they can't have for one reason or the other. In traipses a young girl who is, apparently, dying to try on 16 dresses before her prom date arrives at her house at 7:30 that evening to pick her up.

Not cool. But it happens every Saturday I bring myself to show up.

At my current job at Bath & Body Works I have encountered my fair share of atrocities at the hand of discourteous customers. All of my fellow associates thought we did well to get past Christmas with no real bloodshed. Enter the big Semi-annual Sale. I can overlook the half-empty Subway cups being abandoned by their owners. I can withstand the umpteenth hopeful "Are these three for $10?" when the sign clearly said "Buy three get one free." But what I can't stand is people, customers or salespeople, being rude for no reason.

During the sale a woman wandered in the store. She found one of the 75 percent off table and strutted to the register with her purchase. Diane, who had just arrived to work, rang her up. "That girl told me that was $2.25," the woman said.

Before Diane could say she would give the woman the lotion for $2.25 the woman crossed the line. "You're lying." The woman left the store with nothing but a card with our store manager's number written on it.

So if your hamburger seems a little soggy, try to remember how courteous you were when you gave that tired kid behind the register your order.

Rindy Metcalf is a junior journalism major from Bossier City and serves as the associate managing editor for The Tech Talk. E-mail comments to rdm018@latech.edu.