In the Article Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers by Tony Mirabelli, Economist Peter Drucker argues that “interactive service workers lack the necessity education to beknowledgeable workers". He continues on by saying that interactive services lack the “problem identifying, problem solving, and other high level abilities to work in other occupations.” To some degree I would agree that jobs in the service industry doesn't require much education as would other jobs, however, that does not dismiss the fact that working in such environment requires a set of skills unbeknownst to the rest of the community.
Although i have never work as waiter I did one time worked at retail store for Guess during a Black Friday weekend. And let me tell you it was not easy. For one it was during on Black Friday and two it was my first time working in retail. During that time I found out that it takes more than just folding clothing and helping customers find that extra pair of pants their looking for. It takes patience. Staying in control in the face of danger and in this case an angry customer. Being flexible to one's changing environment and adapting to a situation in order to over come it.
People expect service workers to know what their doing which technically is the same for every other job. If a customer comes up to you and asks you a question and you can't response with a good answer then you are perceived as unknowable. In my case because i was new to the industry, i experienced this frequently. This type of incident only flues the stereotypical notion that servers as Peter Drucker says are "mindless".
Being a server really challenges a persons memorizing and multitasking skills. And to say that it requires a ninth grade education level is really underestimates the require skill it takes to be a successful server. Servers experience what the everyday person would like to avoid and that is talking/serving people when their either mad or happy while still providing an excellent service.
Hey David, I definitely agree with the point you made in your first paragraph. Just because certain workers might not have the academic knowledge that some others have, that doesn't mean they should be dismissed or scoffed at. Servers have their own set of skills that benefit our society, just like people in other occupations. I can only imagine how intense it would be to work at a clothing store during Black Friday, especially as a new guy. I had a similar experience when I started working at Baskin Robbins, although maybe not to quite as extreme of an extent. I had only been trained for a couple hours and they thrust me straight in to serving customers. I was nervous and flustered at first, but I finally developed the skills and knowledge needed to succeed.
ReplyDelete-Sam Spoden
What's up David, I think many people feel that service workers don't have specialized skills only because they see they usually see younger people in these roles. In the reading the author said that 2/3 service workers are mature adults. This is what many do not realize. I think there is a sort of selective perception going on. It's something that has been stereotyped so much that we see it as true. When you picture a McDonald's worker, you usually think of some teenaged kid who is always telling you they are out of ice-cream at 11:22 p.m. when in reality they just haven't cleaned the soft-serve machine. Well, at least that's who I envision.
ReplyDelete- Anthony