I Have a Dream
I have a dream, and it’s NOT about me.
I’ve written about the interconnectedness of people and the importance of everyone’s stories (links to those essays below).
Earlier today I had an encounter at a big box store and felt compelled to write it down.
Normally I do not shop big box, but this particular store is where I get my prescriptions filled. I won’t share the name of the organization; I have a few reasons for this, but primarily because the story could play out in any corporate store.
I found some butter and eggs on sale, so decided to make an exception to my “avoid big box purchases” self-imposed rule. While approaching the checkout area, a young man stopped me and asked whether I was paying by cash or credit. I confirmed that I would be using a credit card, so he asked if I would “prefer” using the self-checkout.
Well, no, I would not. I told him that I prefer to interact with a human being. He then began to ring my purchases through the regular cash register.
He started to talk, explaining that he was being strongly encouraged by management to direct customers to the machines. He told me that he received an email from management stating that unless the employees were able to increase the traffic from the people-operated cash registers to the machine self-checkouts, their hours would be cut.
I expressed disbelief, and so the young man proceeded to show me the email on his phone. Yes, it was true. The company was asking their employees to direct customers to machines that would eventually eliminate human jobs, yet meanwhile threaten to cut their hours should they not comply.
The young man, who was quite a nice fellow, but whom had clearly consumed an extra large serving of Kool-Aid, went on to say that he preferred human interaction because it would enable him to “provide that extra, over-and-above customer service”.
To which I responded
“Wait right there”.
I went on to remind him that when he accepted the job, he was given an outline of his tasks, responsibilities, and likely some indication of the manner in which he was to perform them. And, in exchange for his executing these duties as outlined, he would be compensated by a certain hourly pay rate.
Therefore, so long as he performed his tasks as originally described, and so long as he was paid as per the job offer, the deal was faithfully executed. I commented that “going above and beyond” was not part of the deal and if he chose to have a conversation with a customer for his own personal enjoyment and fulfilment, that was fine, but he should never consider that “part of his job”.
If those requirements were later added to the job description, then remuneration should be addressed in some form. In other words: A Deal’s a Deal.
I also reminded him that by working at this store (or anywhere else) he was essentially selling hours of his life in exchange for money. Nothing is wrong with that, yet one needs to be cognizant of this simple yet often ignored fact.
Well… the young man stopped, stared at me, and in his face I saw the equivalent of the clouds clearing and sunlight streaming in — a blinding flash of the obvious.
We then parted ways and warmly thanked one another for the chat.
I have a dream, and it’s not about me.
I want to imagine that 20 years from now, this young man will be running for office somewhere, promoting workers' rights, equitable pay, fair income, benefits, and all those — at the moment — elusive things that would make the world a better place.
I have a dream that, in a speech, he will describe a moment of inspiration and clarity that was triggered by a chance encounter with an old white-haired woman, who was bold and cranky enough to take the time to speak with him and where — more importantly — he chose to listen.
It doesn’t matter that he does not know my name or will never see me again. It doesn't matter that I will likely be dead and gone when he makes a positive difference in this world.
What matters is that we take a moment to have meaningful conversations with one another.
I have a dream.
Here are the essays referred to above…
On the interconnectedness of us all:
Denise Choppin
On the importance of each of us:
Denise Choppin
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