Service workers deserve our respect, not disdain

We've all been there. We're all on WeChat in large group chats where we don't feel like we are getting much useful information but, for whatever reason, we don't leave the group. Sometimes, we're just voyeurs, or maybe we contribute a word or two. However, more often than not, we find ourselves reading the messages of others that make us annoyed, angry or stupefied.

Often, we are in group chats where people ask simple questions that can easily be answered in two seconds using a search engine. Other times, people contribute irrelevant information. Sometimes, people share too much, or cause unnecessary drama with others. What I really get upset about, though, is when people complain about service workers.

Last year, while surfing the internet, I stumbled upon a video of a foreigner in China whose company said that if he could get a ride-sharing driver to take him to their hometown (as long as the town was within 500 kilometers) to meet their family, the company would give that driver 5,000 yuan ($742) and one of the company's backpacks. The foreign man hails a car and begins talking with the driver. Eventually, the man asks the driver about his family and where he's from. The driver explains that his son lives with his parents in his hometown, while he works in the city. He hadn't seen his family in eight months. The driver then explains how, in the city, he lives in an apartment with five other drivers and attempts to accept as many trips as possible so that he can afford to send his son to school. The man asks the driver to take him to his family's home, which turns out to be 700 km away. The driver agrees. At the end of the video, the man's company agrees to give the driver 20,000 yuan for his son's education. It was heartwarming.

However, the video also stirred up another emotion that was the opposite of heartwarming－anger. In one chat group, some people were complaining about how so many drivers seem like they are about to fall asleep. Other complaints centered around food deliveries, either moaning that theirs had arrived "too cold" or that the delivery person looked "unclean".

Imagine the pressure of wanting to provide your family with an education and a good lifestyle, but having to make huge sacrifices to accomplish these goals. Consider what it must be like to go to a big city and live in an apartment with one bathroom that you share with several other individuals.

Contemplate needing to work 12-hour days in every condition imaginable－severe weather, an epidemic, terrible traffic－and not getting to see your family for months on end. Think about how you might feel being penalized for receiving a complaint from a customer, or not being given more orders to make money because someone complained about something likely out of your control.

Too many times, I have read complaints about services that are not a necessity, but a convenience. As I see these ridiculous grievances in group chats, I'm reading an article about delivery drivers who have been sleeping in tents under a bridge and are still working long hours every day, without any place to bathe, in order to provide services to people who are required to stay at home.

It's important to take stock of how lucky we all are to have things like food, shelter, education and good jobs, the basic necessities, because some people are not as fortunate. That is why, when it comes to service workers, it's important to show appreciation and, if they should make mistakes, patience. Show respect, show gratitude and, if you can afford to, send a small tip. After all, these hardworking men and women are the backbone of our society.