This past week, a Starbucks employee, Chris Criswell, was fired for making a YouTube video complaining about what he has to deal with on a daily basis being a Starbucks employee. Being a Starbucks employee as well, I can agree with many of the things he says in his video. After he was fired, Criswell made another video “Starbucks Rant 2” to let others know that he really did enjoy his job, co-workers and many of the customers. He took responsibility for posting the video online and how it could affect the company. He then went on to add on to the frustrations of being a Starbucks barista.

His video and subsequent firing got me thinking how rude people can be, not only at Starbucks, but also in every customer service environment.

There are the people who talk on their phones in a drive-thru and tell the people working at the establishment to “hold on” so they can finish their conversation.

There are the people who give a handful of change and tell the employee they don’t know how much it is.

There are customers that run off a quick, complicated order and then roll their eyes at the baristas when we ask them to repeat the order.

And, of course, there are the people who feed off the bad mood someone might be having and are just plain rude to the worker.

I will be honest and say I try to be as nice as I can to the person behind the counter. I try to engage in some friendly chitchat, or just smile and say thank you and genuinely mean it.

Why do people feel the need to be so rude? Is it because they are having a bad day, or is it because they don’t care? Perhaps once you become an “adult” you forget what it is like to be behind the counter and how you appreciated those nice people you served at your minimum wage job.

Now, I do work at Starbucks, so the recent uproar about Chris Criswell’s firing is what fueled this column, but honestly I’d just really appreciate if people started being nicer.

What good are you doing by being rude to the checker at Wal-Mart or the guy making your “make sure it only has three pickles” sandwich at Subway? You aren’t gaining anything.

I beg everyone to start being a nicer person in general. In everything that you do. Not just when you go to buy a cup of coffee, or a new pair of pants, but all the time. Be nice to your parents, your dog, the next door neighbor, that smelly guy on the bus because sometimes you smell too. Who knows, you could start a revolution that gets the economy back up and the soldiers out of the war zone. It really can be amazing how being nice can make someone’s day.