A Trio of Disappointment

Today I encountered 3 truly disappointing moments while at work. The first was a word I found written on a small box at our register. On it someone had scribbled the word "gay." The thing is we have two openly gay employees. It was crazy to see that the author (a fellow employee; i knew because the box was behind the register and full of paper clips)had directly written the word to restate the social hierarchy placing straights above gays. This was a reminder that the gay employees are different, and are expected to be seen as such. The word was also directed at other employees to remind them of the social situation they face at CiCi's, attempting to stir up sentiment for this type of difference propaganda.

Second I asked my manager how she was feeling; just a question. In response to the inquiry on HOW SHE FELT she replied by stating that we weren't very busy and that we had been earlier in the day. Chalk one up for the fulfillment of her role as "human capital." She had, in her own mind, allowed that food industry to infiltrate and occupy the area of herself where her own feelings lie; thus describing her state merely as the state of the business. Something is truly sad about that. Her whole personal identification was rooted in the aspects of the task and responsibility of business management. A human did not exist; only a conditioned mind in pure execution mode. This can't be all we strive for out of life.

Lastly another management incident. I was delivering cups to the front counter when i heard her talking to an incoming family. The women requested 2 adult buffets and 3 kid buffets. The manager responded with, "how old are your children?" The mother said "3,9, and 12." The manager replied " oh that's two kids" (charging the 12 year old for an adult buffet due to the mark of "kids" being 11 years or under in capital standards of food industry). This blew my mind. I really was appalled by this. The two dollar difference was enough for the manager to interrogate the family in order to pry out the 2 dollars an adult buffet is worth compared to a kids buffet. Interrogation is the proper word. The customer cam in and made a case. Instead of believing and and carrying on, the manager felt it necessary to dig into the case questioning its technicality. Two strangers in confrontation over 2 dollars. The manager dead set on squeezing every dime out of the customer as possible based on a standard. A standard and an absolute. I would argue that we live in a world with no absolutes.. Even in measurement, at some level (even if it is microscopic) the number is wrong. Like there is no perfect circle. Due to the inherent desire to capitalize in capitalism irrational absolutes are created in order to create expectation, rules, parameters, and power. What really is the difference between 11 and 12 that make it the cut off point? Nothing can be argued except the fact that standards must be set to perpetuate the system. Thus capitalism defines crucial titles and expectations in our lives. We are no longer a kid at 12 because businesses and culture no longer helps your ability to define yourself as such; they have done it for you. Such authoritarianism gets down to specific dates. The day you turn 18, your apparatus of capital products and labor increases. The same is said at 21. It also seems lesser ones are created at much younger ages. Consider this: at the Camden Carroll Library a rule posted says that no child under 9 are allowed to be left unattended. This aids in the structure of defining children as independent and personally responsible. The library is setting these lines for us and such lines come with expectation. Why do we allow the advertisers and institutions of the world set our path as firmly as they do?