Brown Workers

Today had looked like it would be another boring day in the the shop with very little to do, but of course no day would be complete without a little drama to brighten our existences here. I don't know how many of you know this, but in small private schools most of the kids and adults are white. These rich white kids come into contact with people of color in the school pretty much only when they get served at lunch and when they wander the halls and see someone cleaning up after them. The maintenance and lunch staff are all Black and latino, they get paid very little, and they get absolutely no respect from the students nor many of the adults that work here. So, when I wandered in today and found 15 televisions sitting in our hallway and was told that they would be raffled away to only the kitchen and maintenance staff, I smiled that the school was actually doing something really nice! They work relentlessly and hardly ever receive any credit or acknowledgment of the great job they do. Additionally, they never get any of the great perks tha the other adults receive!

As soon as Babs found out that we were not eligible to win any of the prizes, guess what she did??? She went fucking bezerk!! "Why can't we get the free TV's too? We don't get any recognition back here!" (Mind you, Babs has a TV at home, and wouldn't actually have a use for one - it's the principalities!) No, Babs, we do get little recognition for our work, but at least we get paid well, at least we get nice perks, and at least we get some semblance of a nice summer. In strolls the director and she asks about all the TV's, so we tell her what the deal is. When Babs starts complaining to the Director that she thinks its unfair that we can't take home a free TV (mind you these are relics of the mid to late 90's - we're not talking about flat-screens here), the Director looks at me and asks what I think about the situation. I look her deep in her eyes and tell her the truth. I don't mind. I continue on to rant that the maintenace and kitchen staff get very little recognition for their work and that its nice that something, ever so little is being done just for them. Babs' old eyes flew open and she looked like a small woodland creature ready to pounce. She screamed "WE DON'T GET ANY RECOGNITION EITHER." That's not the fucking point Babs - We could probably afford to pass up a free 27-inch TV, they can't. The Director looked at me in silent agreement. Me and the Director shared a bond in this moment, and I'm sure we both thought: "They SHOULD get something every once in a while that nobody else gets, it's the principalities...."