Dear Silicon Valley, let’s stop treating service workers like servants —it’s not cool
If you’ve ever worked a service job, especially as an adult, I suspect you know exactly what I’m talking about — the way certain people in their privileged state, whether momentary or permanent, instantly regard those serving them as a lesser being. They are now “the help”. But it’s worthwhile to think in that moment — who is helping who? How people view and treat other people says a lot about their character, period — but how they view and treat those who currently do not have the same privilege, even while under stress, says even more.
Quick aside, I’ve found a good life-hack to filter out assholes: witness how one treats service people: housekeeping, waitstaff, gym staff — doesn’t matter:
They may be God at making software or money, but if they yell at their barista for using the wrong milk, or don’t show genuine appreciation and kindness to their waiter, motivated by the basic human precept that it feels good to be kind to all people — rest assured — they will eventually be shitty to you, especially once you no longer have the capital they’re after.
Service work can be very rewarding — and even addicting for people — when there’s a genuine connection with and appreciation from the people being served. While driving for Lyft and as a passenger, I constantly meet people who have really interesting, heartfelt stories to share — and that connection can be a thrill. Much like creating good software, service work is about crafting experiences that people genuinely enjoy while benefiting from. And when you get to see someone enjoy it — that’s incredibly rewarding! I think people who stick in the service lines of work, especially hospitality, thrive on this cycle of creating enjoyable experiences that feeds on itself.
But service work is not leveraged like software. Each experience delivered requires real-time human energy and focus — another human needs to re-direct focus on your needs (away from their own) at that very moment! What happens when you’re serving 5, 20, 30 or 100 people per day? Especially in an organization that isn’t, well, very organized. It’s really hard work. And worse, it’s just incredibly demeaning to be mistreated by the people you’re providing a service for. And it’s appalling when I see this re-occurring pattern of interaction happen in front of me on a regular basis: the privileged tech worker barking at their service worker.
I’m probably especially sensitive to this given my background. I have an unusual background with strong streaks of service work and blue-collar family, having worked as a cable TV installer while I was in HS, college, and even during graduate school, as I was very involved in the family business.
If you have not had to work a service job (barista, waiter, cook, taxi driver, technician or any job where your coworkers are counting tips) consider yourself highly privileged.
My hope is that people are open to reflecting on, maybe even challenging some of the habits they may not even be aware of — and unless you have zero capacity for empathy, it’s really worthwhile: you’ll benefit from the warm feeling of knowing you made someone’s day better. There’s also an opportunity to connect and share things in common with someone who lives a very different looking life than you — which can be incredibly eye opening.
