Member-only story
Work and Fear
On Saturday, me and my husband had our first restaurant meal since February, 2020. We’re vaccinated and we ate outside, so it felt like a safe thing to do. Our destination was the local branch of Jaleo’s, which is often considered to be the best tapas restaurant in the U.S. (The one downtown is, anyway. This is a “secondary” branch, but it’s two blocks from us).
Something happened during our meal which got me thinking about work, power dynamics, fear, and ultimately the way we treat people.
These Things Happen
It was an absolutely gorgeous evening. We were waiting for the waiter to come take our order when I heard a loud crash and glanced over.
One of the busboys had dropped a plate. Thankfully, it was an empty plate that no longer contained a tapa, or it would have been a tragedy.
Busboys and waiters drop plates every now and then. They do their best not to, and I’m sure the best ones pride themselves in not doing so.
But it’s still a Thing That Happens. The young man was…well…young. I get that I’m in my late 40s and they all look like kids, but I can’t imagine he had shed the -teen from his age. He looked first-real-job young.
He was standing there frozen with a look of utter terror on his face. He looked convinced he was going to be fired on the spot…