Laura Newell: Let’s not make those serving us face a crappy New Year rung in with bad behaviour

Working in customer services isn’t for the faint-hearted at the best of times. And in what can come as no surprise to anyone, the festive season is definitely the worst of times for many working in retail and hospitality. Let’s be honest, Christmas can bring out the worst in people feeling the pressure of social gatherings, financial straits and the effects, perhaps, of too much alcohol. And too often those working to serve us bear the brunt of our bad behaviour. I spoke to one Perth retail worker this week who at just 16 years old and in her first job had put her hand up for Christmas shifts so those with families didn’t have to. For her efforts, she ended up spending some of her Christmas Eve in the back room of the shop in tears after a customer behaved “horribly” over an item exchange not being completed fast enough for his liking. She is far from alone. In fact, a recent survey by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association showed most staff in retail and fast food have been verbally abused in the workplace. The survey showed more than three out of four have been subjected to insults, yelling or similar verbal harassment by members of the public and just over one in 10 were physically abused, with a quarter facing racial, ethnic or culturally-based harassment. And that’s all as they spend their high days and holidays working to serve us. So, as you enjoy the rest of the festive period, perhaps just keep one eye on your behaviour and throw in an extra thank you to those serving you. Because for too many of them, it’s been a crappy Christmas and may be a far-from-happy New Year.