<p>The other night, I treated myself to a chai tea latte at Bruin Caf. <br/>I swiped my order and retreated to the tea counter to be served. The wait was extraordinary, so I prepared myself. I wasn?t too annoyed, knowing that in the near future I would have my caffeine. <br/>A cafe employee approached me after a few minutes and asked for my order. <br/>While she mixed my drink, I asked her how she was doing and later thanked her for my tea. <br/>She abruptly turned to me, and I thought I had said something to upset her. <br/>?You don?t know how many hours I go without someone asking me how I am or how my day is going,? she said. <br/>Here was this sweet woman who is always bustling around the cafe, telling me that the thousands of students who come to the cafe every day are sometimes outright rude. <br/>We say ?thank you? when we are swiped in. If we?re feeling generous, we?ll ask how the person is doing ? not really to hear the answer, but for the sake of social niceties. <br/>But we don?t mean it. <br/>We don?t really care how the employees at the cafe or other dining establishments feel. <br/>The people who prepare UCLA?s food are ignored by the students they prepare it for each day. <br/>The situation at Bruin Caf got worse. <br/>As I giggled awkwardly, unsure of how to ?make it better,? a guy behind me callously yelled, ?I want my muffin. Is it that hard to walk to the fucking cabinet and get my muffin?? <br/>She left to get his muffin. <br/>And I felt horrible, not just because he behaved so badly, but also because I could have easily been him. So many times I have waited impatiently to receive my food. <br/>I have complained in the dining halls that they aren?t taking the trays off the conveyor belt fast enough and I?m forced to take a whole two minutes to wait for an open slot. <br/>Getting swiped in to the dining halls, droves of people rush in, talking on their cell phones or loudly to friends. <br/>People nonchalantly hand over their cards and saunter away without even looking at the worker. <br/>We treat them like robots. Sure, the employees of UCLA are hired to deal with us ? but not to wait on us like droids. <br/>I?m sure they have days when they don?t want to get out of bed and commute two hours to work with kids who don?t acknowledge them as human beings. But they do. <br/>?There are a lot of people working hard for us. It makes such a difference when one person makes the effort to smile,? said Brian Pugach, a Bruin Caf student employee. <br/>Those who still don?t feel guilty enough to admit their sins of rudeness may be wondering, ?What am I supposed to do? I can?t make these people less depressed.? <br/>Amanda Boeldt, a first-year chemical engineering student, works at the North Campus eatery. <br/>?I wear a name tag, but when someone says, ?Thank you, Amanda,? it really makes me happy. It?s nice when someone makes an effort to identify you,? Boeldt said. <br/>However, it is not as if all students are constantly rude and the UCLA employees feel victimized. <br/>?The majority of students treat us very well and are very respectful. But there may be one or two people who don?t like to wait. But when we are busy, everyone has to wait,? said Santiago Tomas, a cafe senior service clerk. <br/>Not one campus employee has ever yelled at me and claimed a bad day. They do their jobs and work hard, and that should be appreciated. <br/>UCLA employees are not to be pitied or ignored ? rather we should respect them as people who make our lives here better. <br/><hr><i>Like chai tea lattes and people-watching? E-mail Bissell at <br/>. Send general comments to .</i></p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;