I grew up (figuratively and literally) in the restaurant business. The Kettle Restaurant to be exact, and my dad told my brothers and I to always treat the dishwasher with respect because he/she was the most important person in the restaurant.

I will never forget one time when I came into the restaurant late for work one morning because I had backed my truck into a telephone pole while leaving the house. I bent my bumper, scratched my tailgate, and knocked out my taillight. I was not a happy camper when I finally arrived at work.

As soon as I walked in the backdoor, a waitress met me and said, “Uh, Todd, there is an upset customer that wants to talk to the manager.” Well, that was me, so I went out to see what the issue was.

If I could go back, I would have gathered myself emotionally first before dealing with an upset customer. I was mad from backing my truck into a pole and not emotionally prepared to manage the situation like an adult. I should have taken a few minutes to get my mind right, but I did not.

Apparently, we had undercooked her eggs, the bacon was not crisp enough and the coffee was warm, not hot. I offered to re-cook her meal at no charge. Instead, she chose to make a scene and announce to the entire restaurant that she had no intention of ever returning to a business that was so poorly run.

I promptly told her that if she felt that way, then that was fine with me, “We don’t need your money anyway.” My Dad would have fired me on the spot if he had seen me treat a customer that way.

As I headed back to the kitchen, our dishwasher accidentally dropped a tray of glasses, shattering them all over the floor. I immediately lost my cool and yelled, “Can somebody please do something right around here!”

I completely embarrassed the dishwasher and sent a shiver throughout the entire restaurant. I let my own inability to “get it together” hinder my good judgment and was unable to demonstrate mutual respect.

Dropping those glasses was an accident, just like me backing my truck into that telephone pole earlier that morning.

The very next day, that dishwasher called in sick. No doubt due to the way I treated him. My dad walked out of his office, handed me an apron, and pointed to the dishwasher and bus-tub without saying a word.

For the next 8-hour shift, I was the one wiping down tables, washing dishes, dumping trash, and cleaning up spills. It is not an easy job, nor is it fun, and I broke six glasses.

I quickly developed a newfound respect for that role and its importance to the operation of the restaurant. I apologized personally to the dishwasher for my behavior and learned a valuable lesson about not letting my emotions overshadow my judgement.

I regretted saying what I said to the customer and the dishwasher. Once those words left my mouth, there was nothing I could do to take them back other than eat them.

Sometimes nothing is more nourishing for your soul than the awful taste of having to eat your own words.

We learned from our dad when working in the restaurant business all people matter. If you don’t treat the dishwasher with respect, then you’ll be the one washing the dishes. I learned that the hard way.

All people should matter with you, no matter of their education, background or whether or not they can make you look good.

Regardless of how bad of a day you are having, interact with others with common courtesy. I have learned throughout my life to never allow my job title, my authority, my lousy mood, or what I want to get done to be an excuse to treat others without respect.

Being a respectful person is not a secret, just treat others the way you want to be treated. Where is the confusion in that?

I was given authority that day because my dad owned the restaurant. I was also given opportunities to demonstrate true leadership; unfortunately, I only demonstrated my true immaturity.

Authority can be GIVEN to anyone; respect must be EARNED. Just because I am having a bad day does not give me the right to take it out on others.

I needed to grow up, and I did just a little on that day.

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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles will appear on Fridays.