I work with with people that are a minimum of 5 years older than me (no big) to a maximum of 23 years older than me (wait- to be clear, I am just talking about the kitchen. Not the floor staff. Obviously) . The two younger guys are white guys that are each cowboy chefs. The rest are mostly people of colour, immigrants and , as I said, older.
After getting my bearings about the place I began to pick up on some things about these people. Its something i was actually quite surprised about… being a cook can be a legitimate middle class occupation. I’ll say it again… with emphasis… being a cook can be a middle class occupation… These guys (and one… I am apologize for the fact that this will appear to be a stereotype, but its true) and one sassy jamaican woman – have worked in the restaurant for anywhere from 14 to 33 years. The restaurant is 33 years old. They make anywhere from 25 to 35 dollars an hour, a nearly guaranteed 40 hour work week and benefits.
As I have gotten to know the peoples I work with I’ve come to know them as nice middle aged people who support their children in highschool and university, who have RRSPs, who take vacations, who live out of metro toronto, but feel it worth it to drive/transit into the core each day for work and who are generally happy and proud people. They are what I would call a legit grown-up. Maybe this incredulity smells a little of condescension, which is fair…. but what I am trying to get at is the surprise of finding a restaurant that offers this kind of life by way of their employment opportunities. Cooking food is a craft, a skill and a trade like many others, but as it historically over the past 30 years settled into the category of service… or rather as the service industry settled into the category of lower-class… as in: to serve – respect for the position of a cook has diminished. I’ll pass on the bits about trusting the person who feeds you and what that’s worth…. think about how many romans died by poison…. but I think there is a larger lesson involved here. We want craftsmanship and quality, but don’t want to support those that dedicate themselves to providing it. Its the same in every field – we should pay teachers a salary that provides a decent and secure quality of life, we should pay nurses, police and … artists… to that mark. By no means, am I suggesting that cooks offer the same societal value that these occupations do, rather I am asserting that no one wants to eat shitty food and that means paying a living, decent and fair wage (ie: the capacity of, not guarantee of – security) to make it. You need to pay people enough for their to be a broad incentive for quality. (As I write this I am reminded of the fact that personal incentives are largely to blame for the American financial fuck-up of ought’8-11, but the key is always moderation.)
Anyway. Just passing thoughts. This will probably be edited at a later date.
Cheers.
