This has bothered me for a long, long time. I'll be the first to admit that what I do isn't glamorous. No one marvels when I tell them how I make a living. I'd much rather be a pro baseball player, an author (hint, hint) or Warren Buffet's illegitimate lovechild whom he desperately wants to remain quiet. But that doesn't mean I don't work hard for pretty good money. Plus the hours are good so long as you don't mind foregoing prime time television. For better or worse I missed out on reality TV completely--on second thought, that definitely makes life better.
But when I turn on the television before or after work, I am bombarded by commercials that alert me to all my supposed shortcomings. Example? How about this little gem:
Now, supposedly, this is supposed to be funny and it very well may be to someone who hasn't waited tables. To most of the people I've worked alongside over the years it is offensive. Let's break it down the way I see it. The guy who is singing doesn't want to work in a restaurant. So why is he there? Oh, because someone stole his identity and trashed his credit report. (They don't talk about the other two in the band; they must be convicts or drug addicts.) Yeah, your credit score may prevent you from getting that job as a bank teller, but I'm pretty sure they don't run credit reports on MBA's fresh out of Wharton. And I don't recall working with any Data Analysts who were the victim of identity theft.
One more thing that irks me about this commercial may be a little nit-picky. If you really read between the lines at the beginning and end you'll come to the conclusion that they are employed at a seafood restaurant at a tourist destination. "Huh?" I hear you saying. Where are there seafood restaurants, tourists and pirate kitsch? Not in Iowa (and if there is a pirate-themed seafood restaurant in Des Moines, I'd caution tourists to stay away unless you enjoy gastrointestinal acrobatics. Then again, who vacations in the Corn Belt?). No, you live near the ocean. Buck up and get a tan!
Then there's this one:
First off, where does she work? Phillies? Not even the people at Waffle House wear that get-up. But it is a clue, along with the condiment bottles, that she works in a diner. Historically not the best of places to work towards that yacht you've got your eye on. Then she goes on singing (and does anyone else think they lifted the last half of the song from Cibo Matto?) that the solution to financial independence is a college degree. Oh, of course! That's the secret! But wait, I have a B.S. in Marketing. Shouldn't I have a six-figure job in a corner office and keys to the executive washroom? As it turns out, no. You see, the most recent (non adjusted) figures say that people with an undergraduate degree or above have an unemployment rate of 4.5% and doesn't account for the underemployed. The last time the (adjusted) overall unemployment rate--which includes all able-bodied adults 16 and over--was less than that was 2000. Maybe you should get better at your current vocation and climb the ladder to a more profitable restaurant before burdening yourself with massive debt.
I know, I know. These are just commercials and all these people are after is money. I get it. We all want more money. My problem is that you will never, NEVER see a positive portrayal of a restaurant worker outside of Coming to America, and even then they were royalty slumming it for women and comedic effect. We are not all bad people, just as all Wall Street workers are not Gordon Gekko. But marketers and writers--yeah, my ilk--seem rather cavalier about casting us as misfits and screw ups. Any time a minority group is stereotyped organizations come out of the woodwork to denounce it. It's time someone stood up for us.
