I can't believe we are already on blog #8 already. Time is definitely flying by. I usually do not start my blogs till the morning of... BUT since I finally have a break during this on-going midterm season, I figured why not get this done now. I am usually a huge procrastinator, so I am trying my best to change this habit.
When I read Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers by Tony Mirabelli, I could not believe what the email respondent said in the first paragraph of the article. I was appalled at how ignorant this email sounded. Especially about the part that said, "Stop being such a weakling, go out and learn something, anything, and go make a real contribution to society..." like what a jerk... Being a waitress, waiter, or server IS a contribution to society. Being in that type of job field actually teaches you a lot. Learning to talk and communicate with different kinds of people are one of the best learning skills you can achieve. I was never a waitress, so I don't really know anything about being in that job... but I would assume that it is a hard job to have. Dealing with rude customers, getting tipped poorly when you know you gave them your best customer service is all part of the job. With all these experiences you can learn patience, which is a skill that is usually learned and not taught in college. Although you may not need a college degree to be a waiter, you have to have skills that they do not teach you in college.
With the responses that this email got I was like...
Even if you have a college degree or not, having a waiter job does not mean you are less of a person. It does not make you worse than a person who works as a lawyer. A lawyer could be the rudest person with a bad personality and would be lower than that waiter with a more humble personality. I know so many college students who work as a waiter or server, and it does not make them less successful. Just like the respondent of the ignorant email said, "not everyone has a trust fund and can't work for a living" even though people have college degrees and want to have big jobs in the future. They have to make ends meet, and having a job that doesn't require a college degree is probably one of their only options. And honestly, not every job hires off of college experience. If you are cocky in having so many internships and jobs they probably will not hire you because of how you act. They would probably hire someone who is willing to work, even if their only job experience is working in a restaurant. I mean personally, I would respect someone who has personality, not someone who has more stuff on their resume.
Economist Peter Drucker says that service work is "mindless", invoking repetitive tasks that require little education. Although some may agree with Drucker, I do not agree with his statement of a server's job being "mindless. They usually have to cover multiple tables, serve difficult people, and make sure everyone is getting taken care of. Imagine taking orders from 5 different tables, and having to get them right. What if one of your orders gets messed up? You then have to go back to the kitchen and tell them to make a new one, which would probably make the cook mad... So it clearly is not an easy job. I would not classify this work as being mindless, but rather "challenging". I would like to see someone with an "unmindless job" try to be a waiter. I know if I tried to be a server it would be a Sh!+show! On my first day, I would probably cry at how hectic it gets.
I wonder if Drucker would think working at in-n-out would be a "mindless" job. I mean if you see the way these guys work and how fast they do their job, it is quite insane. They are constantly running around everywhere trying to get the order right and getting it out there fast, and to top it all off they always seem to have a cheerful attitude. So to Drucker I say, "try to do your job with a big smile on your face!"
:-)
I feel you on the procrastination thing, it can be tough to find time to fit everything in when midterms roll around. I agree that being a waitress teaches you invaluable social skills and patience. The amount of activity that servers must keep track of is crazy, all while maintaining a stable emotional state. It is impossible to deem one job as more important than another, as each one has its ups and downs. While business men might have more academic intelligence, servers might have more emotional intelligence, which is just as important. I liked your in-n-out example, as it is always amazing to me that those employees are able to stay so productive and energetic all the time. I would be fired immediately if I worked there, probably for lack of enthusiasm.
ReplyDelete-Sam Spoden