joblessgrad

“Against stupidity the very gods / Themselves contend in vain.” -Friedrich von Schiller

 I had work today, again, but it was kind of screwy. So at work we had two conventions going on at the same time. One convention was eating close to where I’m normally stationed (let’s say the South end of the building) and the other convention was stationed at my end, but was eating at the other end of the building. Now a set up like that is kind of a swinging and miss because once one is set up we have to set up the other. Once the other is in progress we undo the first one. The guy I was working with to set up the first lunch was tired because his kid had kept him up all night and women would come up to him and say, “Well why aren’t you smiling?” He would give a shit eating grin and say, “Because my baby kept me up all night, but you wouldn’t bother to get know someone before judging, would you?” At this point I would think oh dear Lord, this guy is so getting fired, but somehow all the patrons, instead of being offended, would go on about the joys of children. It was ridiculous.

The one convention I had the most face time with today was an Energy Investors meeting. Certain times my job is a lot like that movie Waiting…For example, the cooks listen to a lot of rock music, my boss is kind of a tool, and certain people are great to wait on while others are damn near atrocious. I don’t make my skin color or race a big issue, but there are some things that just annoy me about it that others don’t have to deal with. If my last name were something like VonLichten or LaFleur, nobody would come up to me and start speaking German or French, respectively. However, since I am Hispanic certain people feel this impulsive desire to speak Spanish to me upon meeting me. I think that when meeting people a certain guideline to follow is to say hello in your language and then if they don’t speak your language, speak theirs (if you know how, of course). The strange part about these people that speak what language they assume is dominant to you is that they never look angry or happy, they have this vacant stare on their faces the entire time they are doing it. These morons believe they are completing some public service by speaking a language they assume I am fluent in.

Three tables stick out in my mind from today: one table was full of smiles and laughter, another was full of angered and frustrated people, the last table was full of passive people. I thought the angry table was going to cause me a great deal of trouble, but strangely they were extremely quiet and well mannered. The passive table was a completely different story. One guy at the table starts talking Spanish to me, not fluent Spanish, but more of a broken Spanglish. Spanglish is a mix of Spanish and English, but broken Spanglish is taking English words and adding “el” before it or an “o” on to the end, which I absolutely detest. I tried to let it slide the first time because I answered him in English, which should have alleviated the situation, but 5 minutes later he was back at it in full swing. He is going on in broken Spanglish and then tops it off with a, “Gracias.” I try to just say, “you’re welcome,” in order to avoid conflict, but it didn’t end without an issue.

This time was worse though because all the old investors at his table then, in a sense, woke up out of their daze, realizing he was speaking Spanish to a Hispanic waiter, and they all decided to speak their views on immigration and nationalism. One old lady spouts off, “Don’t speak Spanish! Encourage him to speak English.” Another old lady next to her grumbles, “They come into our country to take our jobs and can’t even speak our language?” Another old person mutters, “Disgraceful!” All the while I’m holding an extremely heavy tray of dishes and trying my damnedest not to throw it down and quit on the spot after calling them all bigots while dropping a bunch of obscenities and telling them all what’s what.

I am just baffled how some people can’t realize to cover their own mouth before saying something offensive, but what baffles me more is that phrase, “They come to take our jobs and can’t speak our language.” To be perfectly frank, the American language is an amalgamation of Spanish, German, Latin, and English (from the United Kingdom). On top of that I have a degree in English as well as a license to teach English.  Again, how could someone know that unless they know me personally, but I don’t have an accent and I never spoke Spanish to any of these people. What really corks me is when they say, “Take our jobs.” These people are all old, retired investors. They don’t work. They sit at home and watch their money accumulate and even if they did, why would the get a job waiting on people? I couldn’t get a teaching job and fell back on the shitty job of waiting on people just to get a few bucks. It wasn’t a job I even wanted to do, ever; yet,  I’m somehow stealing “their” jobs. In high school when the guidance counselor asks you what you would do if you had a million dollars, nobody ever says that they would serve food, mop floors, or scuba dive in human waste to check the ph balance, but these are all jobs that people take because they need to make a living. I mean, I don’t condone anything illegal, but I do realize that it costs money to survive and people will do anything to get it.

I suppose the confusion for me is how do these crazy people get by on this style of thinking? I’m thinking I might have to quit this job for a better one because this very situation is the reason why I didn’t want to get into it. Ever since that I have been angry and feeling like a nothing. I’m not saying we should treat everyone like they are great creatures, I’m just saying frustration and stupid comments should be left for friends and family, not the people that handle your food.