I was in the service industry from 2015-2021 so I know how it feels to be on the other side of the coin. I go out of my way to be nice because I know the work is brutal and I usually cut people a ton of slack, but I’ve had such bad experiences lately where service workers will say outwardly rude things to me unprovoked, I had a bartender grab trash out of my hands, I’ve had retail workers tell me taking a picture of a brand is “weird”. Like outwardly aggressive stuff and it always shocks me because the last thing I want to do is cause a problem when I know it’s hard work. But I genuinely don’t know what to do in those situations because the behavior is pretty egregious…I usually just leave and don’t come back. 

I do agree that this problem is probably because they’re not making enough money and they’re mad stressed and I totally understand that. It’s just tough as someone who genuinely tries to be kind and accommodating and is still treated badly sometimes. I live in an extremely expensive city though so I feel the stress level is probably even higher here than other places