‘I couldn’t do what they do. Even with substantial learning, orientation, practice, and experience I would also need patience, a strong ability to multi-task, and good awareness of what’s going on around me. Good people like that are worth their weight in … well, maybe not gold, but at least very expensive ingredients. They should be recognized by their management and corporate entities as masters at what they do. And, they should be acknowledged and respected by the customers they so expertly serve, however indirectly and however invisible they are.’
My wife and I were eating at a favorite local restaurant where we’ve become somewhat familiar with some of the behind-the-counter food prep and kitchen staff. We discussed how most of them are really good at what they do, and I thought it ironic that they’re considered by some to be unskilled menials, worth only of a too-low minimum wage.
That work is hard, sometimes complex and always demanding. “Unskilled” may be a misnomer if you’ve seen some of them at work. The trite saying “My compliments to the chef” ignores the difficult, sometimes quite skilled labor that produces the final product.
Wife and I both have masters’ degrees, but I know I couldn’t do what they do. Even with substantial learning, orientation, practice, and experience I would also need patience, a strong ability to multi-task, and good awareness of what’s going on around me. Good people like that are worth their weight in … well, maybe not gold, but at least very expensive ingredients. They should be recognized by their management and corporate entities as masters at what they do. And, they should be acknowledged and respected by the customers they so expertly serve, however indirectly and however invisible they are.
Because it’s not just those we can see; many of these experts are behind partitions. When I was a busboy, I strived to be the best busboy in the country even though no one noticed or cared. (Of course, at 80 cents an hour I decided college might lead to a better career.)
What they do is almost a dance. Whether they’re preparing and maintaining 20 items for a salad bar, operating half a dozen grills and ranges, or continuously baking and apportioning thirty desserts, it’s a demonstration of higher-order situation awareness and efficiency. It’s not the situation room at the White House, but it’s certainly not menial “burger flipping,” either.
We also noticed their teamwork. A sure sign of a good place is everyone pitching in where required, almost unnoticed by the customers, and without rancor. The opposite is much too often true. So our expert “menials” are also good at teamwork, a high-level skill sometimes never learned by educated politicians or committee chairpersons.
I don’t know if the editor would let me name the specific restaurant we observed, but naming it would detract from the point anyway: Your restaurant undoubtedly has these gems as well. Just look.
Not all such employees are diamonds in the rough, of course. Like any profession there are degrees of competency, dedication, and behavior. But many of these so-called unskilled menials are truly experts at what they do. And they should be more fully recognized, appreciated, and of course, remunerated.
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