“Very few people surprise me,” says Richard Gere in Pretty Woman. “You’re lucky,” Julia Roberts responds, “Most of’em shock the hell out of me.”

Most of the time, I am more like Richard Gere, and am rarely shocked by the actions of people. However, tonight I found myself siding more with Julia Roberts.

I am a student employee at Café Mac, and I have to work four shifts per week in order to earn all of my work-study grant. Needless to say, I am in the cafeteria a lot. Unlike many student workers, I don’t hate my job. I actually enjoy it from time to time. However, an event that took place in the cafeteria this week made me regret the fact that Café Mac is obligated to serve all Macalester students. After a truly chaotic Friday dinner shift in the cafeteria, we student workers were wearily completing our last task of the night, cleaning tables. It was about 8:15 p.m., and we had stopped serving dinner at 7:40 p.m. Usually there are some groups of people who hang out in the cafeteria until about 8:00 p.m. While this is not ideal, none of us really mind because most considerate people get up and leave when we need to clean their table (i.e., when their’s is the last table to be cleaned in the entire cafeteria).

However, this was not the case tonight. We had cleaned all the tables in the cafeteria except a few occupied by a large group of lounging students. One of our student managers politely requested that the group move so that we could clean their tables and then go home. While most people who possess a modicum of courtesy would have politely complied and apologized for inconveniencing the entire staff of Bon Appétit (including the workers in the dish room who were waiting for these students to bring in their dishes), one student had another idea.

Instead of taking the proverbial “high road,” this student—whom I don’t know, and whom I don’t particularly care to know—pitched an elementary fit in the middle of the cafeteria. He loudly protested that we were unreasonable for asking him to take his conversation elsewhere. Then, within hearing range of the student workers, he began saying that it was our job to serve him and defiantly declared, “If you want me out of here you’d better stop serving dinner at 7!”

I was utterly floored by the ignorance displayed by a Macalester student in such an ostentatious manner. The student workers have absolutely no say about the hours that the cafeteria keeps. Trust me, if it were up to us, dinner would probably be a half hour “build your own sandwich” marathon on paper plates so we wouldn’t have to haul scalding hot dishes out of the dish room. To their credit, a couple of the other members of his group told this student that it wasn’t the fault of the student workers, that it was Friday night and that we all probably wanted to go home (they were correct on all counts). This particularly rude student said he didn’t care, that it was our job to cater to him, and in a classic example of a bad apple spoiling the bunch, the group of students refused to move. When the student workers clocked out, this group was still defiantly seated in the same place, tables still soiled.

What bothered me more than not being able to complete my job was this student's disgustingly prima donna attitude, and the horribly aristocratic idea that the student workers are serfs who should cower before the almighty patrons of Café Mac. I’ve got news. As Sheryl Crow would say, “This ain’t no country club either.” This is Café Mac, a college cafeteria. The student workers are not servants. We are students who were accepted into Macalester on our own merit, and we deserve respect, no matter what mundane chores we happen to be performing in order to finance our education.

And so, like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, I find myself in a state of shock at the disturbing twists illustrated by human nature. I would hope that horribly rude students, such as the one I observed this week, are in the minority. However, it’s not just egregious behavior that discourages cafeteria workers; in the cafeteria, the little things add up. When you leave your tray, glasses, napkins or half-chewed food (yes, this does happen) on the table, it is up to the student workers to clean it up. I challenge you, when you’re in the cafeteria, to think about the fact that it is your friends (for I assume that everyone knows someone who works at Café Mac, or has worked at Café Mac) in the green shirts who have to put up with rude, deprecating behavior. Also remember, good old-fashioned courtesy and consideration never go out of style.