Before starting college I used to work at the restaurant Bob Evan’s as a grill cook. I worked almost every day of the week, during all different times of the day. When you work at a restaurant, you get to know all kinds of different people. From 16-year-olds to people in their 60’s, I got to get to know people whom I usually would not interact with. Even though I was very quiet and did not know anybody working there at first, I slowly started to become part of the giant family that was the Bob Evan’s employees. As with any family, there were some members who I was not too fond of, but I liked and cared about most of them.
With that being said, it is understandable why I would get upset when some of my friends would make certain assumptions about the people I work with. Assumptions such as the people still working as waitresses in their late 20’s must have been too stupid to go to college and get a real job. Or wondering why on earth a middle-aged person would work in a restaurant as anything less than a manager; and that the older people working there must live pretty sad lives.Statements such as these have been applied to countless other workers across the country who work what most would consider less desirable jobs. And every time I hear such statements, it makes me sick.
Somewhere along the line people decided that certain jobs are less important than other jobs. That people should be proud of certain jobs, and embarrassed by others. The types of jobs that are looked down on are usually lower paying, entry-level jobs with no education requirement and typically involve some kind of physical labor. People have also made some sort of secret rule that says only students should have jobs such as fast food workers, cashiers and waitresses, and after a person passes that point in their life, it is suddenly looked down upon to have that job.
To any of the people out there that find themselves thinking this; you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Yes, these people may not have went through years of expensive schooling and studying like you or your parents have, but that does not make them any less hard working. Most of the older people whom I worked with at Bob Evan’s had to work two, sometimes three jobs just to be able to keep a roof over their family’s head and food on their plate. I knew people who gave up their opportunity to go to college in order to work full time and help their family pay for bills. Some people would even drive 45-minutes only to work a four-hour shift because there are no jobs close to where they live. But people never think about that.
People know that it is hard to find jobs, yet they seem to forget that when they make fun of workers. And really the truth is that every job is an important job, whether you acknowledge this or not. While it is true that our society could not function properly without doctors and lawyers, it is also true that it could not function without janitors and garbage men. And while yes, food workers are not necessary for human existence, they are required to keep the same level of comfort that everybody is used to. After all, who would make your food when you are too lazy or busy to make yourself dinner?
At the end of the day, anybody who goes out and earns money in an honest and legal way should be celebrated, no matter what job they may be doing. With higher education being so scarce and expensive, it is logically impossible for everybody to grow up and get a job such as a doctor. It is far overdue that we as a society should be able to understand that no one person is better than another, and that no one should be judged negatively for having a job.
So next time you find yourself about to make fun of the old lady behind the window of a drive through, stop and recognize that they are doing work, just as anybody else in society does.
