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Okay, so here's the thing the rest of the world doesn't get about Americans being forced to stand constantly at service jobs.
It's a slavery thing.
I shit you not, it's a constant standard of service expected of American workers that deliberately mimics slave standards. https://twitter.com/_lemonhoe_/status/1342119998899286017
It's a slavery thing.
I shit you not, it's a constant standard of service expected of American workers that deliberately mimics slave standards. https://twitter.com/_lemonhoe_/status/1342119998899286017
"If you have time to lean you have time to clean" is a tactic designed specifically to keep workers from having time to rest or talk together.
Because when you're enslaving humans you need them too tired and worn down to fight you.
I'm really serious.
Because when you're enslaving humans you need them too tired and worn down to fight you.
I'm really serious.
So you set these standards and you set them to be a little higher than a human can comfortably withstand. And you design an aesthetic around those standards. And a punishment/reward system that's weighted heavily towards disproportionate punishment. Assign morality to it.
So now this deliberately uncomfortable standard becomes an expected norm of service. This human body must stand aware and ready for any and all commands for extended periods with little to no rest. And not meeting it makes you eligible for punishment which they want to do.
Because being disproportionately punished for reaching a standard human limit once will form a trauma response that can be exploited.
And also, you CANNOT underplay it when I say aesthetics plays into this. You don't just have to stand, you have to stand a certain way.
And also, you CANNOT underplay it when I say aesthetics plays into this. You don't just have to stand, you have to stand a certain way.
You cannot lean against walls or counters or sit and slump. All of these things show that you are bored and tired and in pain. SEEING that can trigger an empathetic response in people. So you make them stand Very Straight in a visually pleasing outfit. You make them smile.
And this became the cultural and visual standard the American upper class and those who aspired to be them came to expect. Very upright, hyper attentive, always smiling, dressed in a way the viewer finds the most pleasing.
And then Slavery ended. Technically.
And then Slavery ended. Technically.
But this was still the standard that was expected anytime Black people interacted in a service role with anyone else. It was the standard that was now being expected of anyone else being forced to compete against Black people in the market, even indirectly.
'If THEY can, YOU can'
'If THEY can, YOU can'
The justifications have gotten slicker and more long winded over the years as people try to explain WHY they like these standards for service workers but the truth is really very simple.
Slavery was NOT that long ago. These are standards of behavior chosen specifically to cause exhaustion and distress in the American worker while forcing them to participate in a pleasing visual performance that distracts from that knowledge.
And while many people recreate this thoughtlessly, echoing what they've always seen and participated in, trust that there are plenty of people in upper management who understand the reality of this in all its depth and nuance and make this choice deliberately as their ancestors
