There tends to be an assumption that people who work in food service are ignorant, uneducated, or lazy. After all, how often do people get an order from a place, then complain about how âthose morons messed up my orderâ and insist that only high school dropouts or âretardsâ work in fast food?
I work as a pizza delivery driver. I work hard and long hours, I do my best to get orders to the door on time and correctly. My coworkers also work very hard. There is not a single lazy worker that I can think of among our staff. If there are no orders to be made, then we are folding boxes for future orders, doing the stacks of dishes that any food industry creates, or prepping dough for the following morning. If, by some miracle, none of those things need doing, then we are cleaning or doing inventory to ensure that the store is safe and well stocked.
We are not stupid people. I have a BA in English, with a minor in Sociology. One of my fellow drivers was an insurance auditor but needed work with more flexible hours due to her parents getting older and needing more help. One of my managers had a full ride academic scholarship when he went to college. One of our cooks worked on a nuclear submarine in the Navy and was only prevented from continuing education in nuclear physics by his (undiagnosed at the time) dyscalculia.
Tonight, while I prepped dough, the other driver washed dishes, the manager took orders, and the cook prepared them, we chatted about religion, philosophy, and parallel universes. We took little detours into string theory and the validity of the works of Stephen Hawking.
I donât think that a single one of us in the store is dumb. Uneducated, maybe, in the case of certain workers who had to leave school before graduation to help support their families, or another worker who chose not to attend college because she knew that the degree would not be worth the debt.
People tend to assume that if youâre intelligent, you will find work that is well paying, prestigious, white collar. If youâre doing work that isnât one of those things, you must not be intelligent. After all, who but the uneducated would be willing to work for minimum wage in a hot, fast paced environment? Who would put up with the risk of being robbed?
I can tell you who. Me. For me, finding work that allowed me to pick my kids up from school every day, take my roommates to doctor appointments, and take off when needed to support my family emotionally or physically is a lot more important than being respected for my choice of employment.
So the next time that you order a pizza or hit the drive thru or walk up to the counter⊠remember that the people wearing the silly uniforms are probably just as intelligent as you are.
