People really don't understand how much cordial tone/language & saying "please" & "thank you" matters. Don't get me wrong, we all have fucking miserable days, & the MVC is basically an accumulator of misery (I don't blame overworked, understaffed workers for being a little testy inherently,) but in any kind of customer service, making it clear you have no intention of causing a scene, being hard to deal with, or otherwise making someone's job more difficult than it needs to be will get you what you need more often than not. No one likes it when someone takes a bad day out on them — don't do it to people who are susecptible to experiencing it multiple times per day!

That's not to say there aren't irate people behind the counter, & it's not to say you're guaranteed to get your ass kissed, but signaling to the people helping you that you're not trying to make their day any worse is a lifesaver sometimes. It costs nothing & may even make someone's day better for free. I really hate the implication that, because someome is working in customer service, they can be treated however the customer pleases because they have no way out. Even beyond the hellish MVC vists, if we just take a minute to evaluate our own tone & language we realize we can almost always do better.

Maybe you were polite to the people in Elizabeth or maybe you weren't, but I'm willing to bet someone that day was kind to someone. & the mood change can pass from person to person in either direction.