#4--Service!

4.)  Let's face it: those who control the lion's share of the wealth in the US have done a fine job of hauling the country back to the conditions present in the infancy of the industrial revolution--when workers were damn-near slaves to the business moguls who controlled nearly every aspect of their lives.  You lived in company housing.  You bought your food at the company store.  The aim, I assume, was the same as it is now: for the rich to get richer on the backs of the people who made them rich, and with whom they would be damned if they would share the spoils.  Sure, industry had to pay people to work...slavery was illegal.  But industry was intent on getting every penny they paid out in wages--plus more--back from the workers who toiled in the factories.  This, of course, led to the birth of the Labor Movement.  For all their boogers and warts, we should never forget that unions were born to advance workers' interests, hold wealthy employers accountable and generally force them to share the spoils of success with their employees.   

Fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century (almost 150 years, for gods sake!)  The factory jobs that had ultimately been forced to provide living wages to generations of Americans have been shipped overseas, where workers will toil for a fraction of the cost of American labor.  This has created our crappy "consumer economy," where 70% of jobs available are in the service industry.  Service jobs were once the bailiwick of students and second-income "housewives."  In 21st-century America, they've been elevated to the status of primary income for many Americans.

To add insult to this injury, or perhaps to facilitate this injury, the US labor movement is MIA.  After a century and a half of constant battle against the forces of the rich and powerful (who have steadily striven to set up our government to favor the rich and powerful), the union movement is, if not certifiably dead, then definitely on life support. And the propaganda efforts of the rich and powerful have been so successful, they have convinced struggling Americans to vote against their own interests,  guaranteeing the wealthy a lock on power.  As if that were not enough, Mr. and Mrs. Average American have been encouraged to viciously vilify anyone they perceive to be below them on the economic food chain.  "Service job isn't paying you enough?  Go to school, get an education and get a real job!"  As if that avenue to climbing out of poverty still existed in "the land of opportunity." 

And because these are the only jobs available, service people have been subjected to the most diabolical treatment by the industries whose pockets they toil to line.  Crappy wages.  No regular schedules.  No insurance coverage.  No guarantee of hours.  No vacation pay.  American workers have been forced to give up every hard-won benefit secured for them by the labor movement in the last century.  Workers are "lucky to have jobs."  You don't like your job?  We'll get rid of you and hire some other poor schlub to take your place.  It doesn't matter to us.  YOU don't matter to us. 

Workers had little choice but to tolerate such treatment, if they wanted to keep roofs over their heads and food on the table.  Which, in any case, they could not do without government assistance, even if they DID value their jobs.   

And then came COVID.

Poorly paid, unappreciated service employees suddenly became "front line workers."  And the only reward that came with that appellation was the title itself.  Little pay increase, if any at all.  No additional medical benefits, no additional sick time.  In addition, management did nothing to protect workers from rude, violent, entitled customers who took out their frustrations about COVID restrictions on the poor overworked peons behind the counters.

At one point, early on in the pandemic, the government actually paid people to not work.  

Which, unfortunately for the businesses that have for decades depended upon exploitative labor practices to line the pockets of the rich, gave workers a chance to see what life would be like if they were NOT chained to jobs where they were treated like worthless crap.  

And, guess what?  They rebelled.

They used the short breather they were given by the government to take stock of their lives...and legions of under-appreciated service workers decided NOT to ever go back to the jobs that made their lives more miserable than tolerable.  

Surprise!

Suddenly, the service industry had to swallow hard and deep, and start offering incentives to get people to stand behind their counters.  Signing bonuses.  Increased wages.  Health benefits.  

And, of course, the price of fast food has skyrocketed in order to cover the cost.

But, you know what? 

I am more than willing to pay people a decent living wage to flip burgers and fry fries.  Back in the olden days, just after the dinosaurs became extinct, my husband and I bought a home and two new cars on service worker salaries. People should be able to work in the service sector and make a decent living.  

Now, we are retirees; we don’t have a lot of extra money, but we do have enough money to eat out a couple of times a week. And due to COVID, we haven't seen the inside of a sit-down restaurant in almost three years.  So it's fast-food drive-ups or carry-out all the way.  And I'm okay with that.  If I have to spend $18 or $20 on a meal at McDonald's, just so the workers can pay their rent, I'm fine with that.  

But...and there is always a but.  And I'm sure this part is not going to get the nods of agreement from liberal readers that perhaps the rest of this post has inspired.

If I'm going to pay more for my meal because fast food workers need to make a living wage, then fast food workers need to be retrained to prepare the food the way it should be.  They need to care about the product they turn out.  If you’re going to serve me a cheeseburger, melt the damn cheese. Assemble the sandwich so that when I unwrap it, it’s still standing in a straight-ish column, not so that everything is sliding off one side of the bun. Don’t blob all the condiments in the center. And how about making sure the fries are hot when they go into the bag?  I don't expect fast food chains to spend a lot of dough to "improve" their product. The product is just fine, if it's prepared with a little bit of care.  Invest the money in well-trained, service-minded staff, people who might be inspired to take a few extra seconds to actually think about and take pride in what they're doing. Perhaps even to make it how they would like to eat it. 

I spent most of my working life making food, much of it fast. So I know it can be done.

Of course, in order to get the employees to care about their product, the employers need to show they care about their workers.

And perhaps that is where this whole thing falls apart.

For now, anyway.

But I have a feeling that's going to change.  Because it has to, if companies intend to survive in the pandemic-altered landscape of the American service industry.  

We shall see.