I think it's fair to assume that at some point in life, every one of us has had an unfavorable restaurant experience. Maybe this encounter took the form of a meal seeming to take hours to prepare, a waiter presenting you with your dinner containing the exact ingredient you requested be removed from the dish, or perhaps even a waitress shattering your drink glass at your feet, spilling Coke all over your brand new shoes. In a flurry of frustration, you (or more likely, your parents) probably gave a tip that left something to be desired because your server "had one job," yet they still managed to screw it up.
After reading "Serving in Florida" this week in class, I think we all can agree that the stress restaurant workers are forced to tolerate adds up to a lot more than "just one job." Considering their efforts, it's frankly disappointing how little society values their work, casting it aside among other professions that students are threatened with in an attempt to convince them to study diligently. It goes without question that the immense amount of dedication required to become licensed as a doctor is commendable- their role in the workforce is critical. But the fact that minimum wage jobs don't impose the same educational demands on their employees doesn't justify us to overlook the essential roles these workers play in our world as well.
People look down upon and even shame individuals working as retail salespeople, fast food servers, and janitors, assuming that because their jobs pay less and are regarded as "easier," they are unmotivated, unintelligent, or high school dropouts. But we do this without paying any consideration to the fact that these people work so hard, often in multiple jobs, that they can hardly afford time for other necessary personal tasks, let alone the leisure activities many of us take for granted. Without people to help us purchase essentials, prepare our food, and clean our establishments, so many additional challenges would arise in our lives that we can't fully realize because we allow the efforts of minimum wage workers to fade into the background. These jobs are essential to our society and those that perform them deserve more respect than I think our culture delivers.
Big oof that first paragraph was a little too real haha. I can honestly imagine my mom under-appreciating the waiting staff at restaurants for being a little too slow. Ugh I always feel so bad for the workers and the necessary hate they get and you voiced how I feel perfectly. Bravo my friend :)
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting read! I definitely agree that restaurant and retail workers go through a lot and don't deserve to be treated so poorly.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree with you that people who work "lesser" jobs are treated very unfairly just because of the stereotypes of them being lazy, or unintelligent that are placed on them for doing that spcicfic job. But what I don't get is why they don't ask themselves, who would be washing your dishes, serving your food, helping you at a retail store? As someone who has family who works multiple jobs at a minimum wage, it is completely true that a lot of stress is placed on them and are greatly underapreciated and underpayed.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHey Katie, I completely agree with your post. Before reading "Serving in Florida", I honestly didn't realize how hard of a job it is for people working in restaurants. The truth is that it takes a lot of time and dedication to effectively complete their tasks. It is unfair that society casts these workers away due to unrealistic stereotypes. We should start appreciating them more and be considerate!
ReplyDelete