Spare me: A glimpse of a college student's workday

November 2, 4:14 PMChicago College Life Lessons ExaminerStacey Talarovich

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The world is an emotional roller coaster for people with customer service jobs. Those who work hard just to make other people happy are usually the objects of anger for reasons beyond their control. The front desk at AMF Town and Country Lanes in Columbia, Mo., is no exception; especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Shift leader Val Peterson is a constant target for other people’s anger or stupid questions, especially when it comes to shoes.

A strong whiff of Lysol Fresh Scent Disinfectant Spray emanates from the rental shoes at the front desk, and on weekends shoes go quickly. Unfortunately, the men of Columbia seem to wear the same shoe size, and some just don’t understand when the desk is out.

“Can I have a size 12?”
“I have a ten and a half or a fourteen,” Val says.
“How about an 11?”
“I have a ten and a half or a fourteen.”
“How about a twelve and a half?”

At this point the situation is no longer funny, but without raising her voice Val just smiles and says, “I have a ten and a half or a fourteen.” Then she laughs, “The girls always tell me ‘I can wear a six and a half in mens’.’ But the shoes are unisex and they never seem to get that.”

After the shoes are handed out, people return with their technical problems most of which could be solved with patience or just reading the screens in front of them. It’s situations like these when sarcasm starts to leak into Val’s voice; “I threw my ball down and it’s not coming back.”

“Well your lane’s not on,” she says before she calls to have it retrieved, “So that could be a problem…”

On Xtreme Bowling nights the price is $14 per person, shoes included, and patrons can bowl as much as they want from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. During regular nights, the cost is $4.25 per person, per game, plus $4 for a shoe rental. This information is listed on AMF’s sparse pricing board, displayed right above the desk.

“How come you have to charge per person why can’t you just charge by lane?” annoyed bowlers have asked.
“We can’t just charge by lane,” Val explains, “If one person bowled one game we have to charge them $4.25 and if four people bowled one game we have to charge them $4.25. Does that make good business sense to you?
“Then I get the people who ask, ‘How come (the shoes) are $4? It says $3.75 up there.’” Val’s sarcastic tone returns and she replies, “It also says ‘tax not included.’”

While some AMF customers have enjoyed their evening, alcohol shuts down their politeness filter. Normally, Val can deal with bowlers yelling obscenities because they haven’t done their math to grasp the full consequences of “$4.25 per person, per game,” but on one such occasion, she had to walk away.

“Why did you turn my lane off?”
“Ma’am it’s one o’clock, we’re closed. We turned everyone’s lanes off,” Val replies in a polite tone.
“WELL F*** THIS!” the customer yelled hurling one of her rental shoes at Val’s head.
Val walked away to take a break instead of hurling the shoe back at the angry customer.

The shift leader’s experiences haven’t been all bad. Sometimes even the inebriated customers can be… charming. Or so they think. They may not win big with their prepositions, but at least Val can walk away unharmed with a smile.

“When do you get off?”
“As soon as you leave.”
“Well, I’m going to a bar. I could save you a seat, buy you a beer.
“No that’s OK,” Val says, handing him his receipt.
“Is this gonna have your number on it?”
“No, it’s gonna have how much you paid on it,” she replies and hands him a coupon.
“Oh, what’s this?” Val’s new friend asks, surprised.
“It’s a coupon, a gift from me to you.”

No matter what day of the week or time, these particular moments will repeat themselves once, if not twice throughout the night. Competition shoe hurling is a rarity, but even without the flying shoes, most disagreements could be avoided if the bowlers would pay attention. “I love (my job),” Val says sarcastically with a grin. “I just love it.” She would be the first one to say the customer is not always right.