"I have never been treated so poorly as I have in the name of hospitality. I’ve been yelled at, overworked, undervalued, always underpaid, demeaned, sexually harassed, physically ground down on a daily basis, made to be invisible, swallowed myself as a person, burdened with the emotional labor of keeping narcissists happy, burned, cut, in pain, underestimated, shunned, used for but also hated for being talented and smart."
yes yes yes yes yes yes. I think this all day every day. And then Beard lists are released, stars are awarded, reviews published--and the stakes (and tempers) rise, and so much smoke and mirrors cover up so so much unrecognized hard work and SO.MUCH.DYSFUNCTION. There has got to be a better way. What is that way? Hospitality as a value is NOT about being the dreamweaver at EMP, rarified and poetic. It has to be about care at a much deeper level, for each other, in every sense, with every act-- and building systems/structure to support us in that. How do we just never really talk about the actual damage, at every level? The service industry is its own study in colonialism, capitalism, racism, sexism, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, at every level, and on and on. I am deeply interested/invested in this conversation.
"I have never been treated so poorly as I have in the name of hospitality. I’ve been yelled at, overworked, undervalued, always underpaid, demeaned, sexually harassed, physically ground down on a daily basis, made to be invisible, swallowed myself as a person, burdened with the emotional labor of keeping narcissists happy, burned, cut, in pain, underestimated, shunned, used for but also hated for being talented and smart."
Louder! For the people in the back!
yes yes yes yes yes yes. I think this all day every day. And then Beard lists are released, stars are awarded, reviews published--and the stakes (and tempers) rise, and so much smoke and mirrors cover up so so much unrecognized hard work and SO.MUCH.DYSFUNCTION. There has got to be a better way. What is that way? Hospitality as a value is NOT about being the dreamweaver at EMP, rarified and poetic. It has to be about care at a much deeper level, for each other, in every sense, with every act-- and building systems/structure to support us in that. How do we just never really talk about the actual damage, at every level? The service industry is its own study in colonialism, capitalism, racism, sexism, ableism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, at every level, and on and on. I am deeply interested/invested in this conversation.
"...used for but also hated for being talented and smart." 💣💥 BOOM.