BLOG #5: Double Discoursing

In my first semester of college, I had the crazy idea of taking on two different first jobs in order to support myself and help out at home with the expenses. Technically, I was hired at "The Dining Room" at Cuicacalli first and then at Gear Up as a math tutor days later. The experiences were completely different in terms of setting, type of labor, and Discourse.

At Cuicacalli, it was my first time working in a kitchen so I had to learn all the procedures for each food station, cleaning procedures, and customer service techniques. Every station required a couple weeks of adaptation but there was always something new on the menu that we had to learn to prepare. Having no prior experience, there was obviously an adjustment period for me and I feel that any newcomer would experience the same.

At Gear Up, I was much more comfortable because mathematics was the field I was studying and I had prior experience volunteering as a tutor at various churches. One major difference between the jobs was that at Cuicacalli my inexperience was expected and it didn't matter how many mistakes I made as long as I was learning. As a tutor, I had to mushfake and take on the Discourse of an experienced instructor in order to have authority with the high school students I was tutoring. Everything from my behavior, mannerisms, and the way I dressed was a huge contrast to my cooking job. In order to command respect, I had to maintain my position as instructor even though I was only three years older than the students. In terms of reading, I spent most of the time reviewing math lectures, formulas, and specific procedures that I was not familiar with.

Mirabelli's response to economist Peter Drucker, "This orientation further suggests that these supposedly low skilled workers lack the problem identifying, problem solving, and other high level abilities needed to work in other occupations. However, relatively little specific attention and analysis have been given to the literacy skills and language abilities needed to do this work" resonated with me the most because of my particular experience. Having worked in the food service industry, I found this broad definition to be insulting. Much like Mirabelli, many of my coworkers at Cuicacali were college students that went on to pursue professions in law, STEM research, and business. Even at the time I was working at Cuicacali, that stereotype did not even fit because I was actually problem solving and teaching others to do the same at my tutoring job.

Mirabelli’s article, in my opinion, did wonders to defy the stereotypes associated with servers. He illustrated the profession in a way that gives everyone an inside look at the complications one faces and what solutions go down behind the scenes. In no way is it now or ever be “low-skilled” work to deal with the continuing insanity that comes with the growing need of instant gratification in our society. This same problem is something I will definitely face in pursuing a career in teaching. When I was in middle school, if a child was failing a class it was because he was not focused and needed to put more effort. Now, if a student is failing, all the blame is placed upon the teacher. I still associate respect to the profession because teachers are responsible for educating the minds of our future leaders and that is something I want to take a part in regardless of the pressure.