Food service workers can be our friends as well
By Elizabeth Turnbull
News Editor

Every day we pass blindly by the bodies seated at the cash registers and order our food from faces behind the counters. But these are more than warm bodies filling a needed job, more than blank faces taking orders. These are people – people who fill my day with warmth and caring.

If my morning doesn’t start off with Lawana making me my special hazelnut latté in Shorty’s, my day just doesn’t seem to click. She smiles as I walk in the door and before the “Good mornin’ darlin’” is out, she has the milk heating and the espresso brewing. Through the chit-chat exchanged, I’ve learned that she has a family – a little girl named Sierra, who just started Head Start and loves it, and a husband who seems to love her very much.

And if my day doesn’t include a hug from Miss Pat, the night shift supervisor in Benson, the evening just doesn’t have the right ring to it. “Hey sugar! You know I need my hug,” brings a smile and reminds me that my day wasn’t going so badly after all.

A salad from the Pit doesn’t taste as good if Juana isn’t on the job. I can tell what days she doesn’t work from the mess strewn throughout the containers. When Juana’s in charge, everything’s spotless. I went to church with her last year; her son was the pastor, and she has several darling grandchildren. They recently moved to Texas, but if you ask her about them, she’ll beam.

Ms. Moore at the register in the Pit likes to bake on the weekends, and she’ll always have something nice to say. She never doubts I’ll pass my tests or get my work finished – even when I’m not so sure. But her stern voice and smiling eyes are enough to convince even the most cynical. “Oh, honey, you will do just fine,” she says. I have a feeling that when Ms. Moore speaks, the heavens listen.

Della – oh, the famous Della. Known and loved by all. She’s the featured food service worker in the first of the Old Gold and Black’s series of articles titled “Wake at Work.” Her jolly voice booms across the Pit as she laughs, “You know that’s right.”
These are the people that fill my days on campus, the people I’ll remember when I someday have to leave.

Without them, my meal times wouldn’t be nearly as fun or cheerful.

Sure, we complain about the “gruff grill workers” or the often slow service. Deal with it. And remember that they’re people too. They have families and hobbies and dreams just like we do. Only, they have to work a lot harder to support it all. And that’s why I think our “Wake at Work” series is so important. In the coming weeks we will be featuring members of the janitorial services, groundskeeping and security staff. It’s another spin on the VIPs that keep our campus running.

So as you walk through the Pit, Benson or IS, remember that people lie beneath the blank faces and families depend on those warm bodies.