Beyond the uniform.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger      3 comments      link this post     


We are more than the uniform we put on.

I got to thinking about this as I looked at myself in the mirror this morning, heading to work. I had my inexpensive khaki pants on, the white polo shirt tucked in, the white baseball cap with the store logo, name tag clipped to the pocket... my work uniform.

At the store, I am, according to my uniform, "just" a worker in the bakery.

I got to thinking of how people will see me differently -- actually, not see me at all -- in this uniform versus when I might be out and about in regular clothes or dressed up on a night out on town. You can't tell me that I'd be seen the same because I think we could all agree that the reaction is different.

I know I wouldn't notice me, though I have been making a concerted effort to meet the eyes of clerks and workers in the places I patronize, smiling and telling them to have a nice day. I figure any effort to swim against the stream of anonymous autonomy that seems to fill our existence today is worth it. I understand, of course, that it simply isn't possible to get to know every person I meet in the day, from clerk to passerby. It is possible, however, to remind myself that people are people and not the uniform they wear.

Here's what I know about people:

1. People have things that hurt and make them sad.
2. People have fear.
3. People want to be loved.
4. People want to feel that they matter and to know that someone cares about them.
   
5. People bring joy to other people in their lives.
6. People have unique personalities and abilities.
7. People have stories that make up their lives.
8. People have anger and disappointment.
9. People have joy and laughter.
10. People are just like me, for I am a person.

Knowing all that, I must work harder to see people as these kinds of real people and not as the uniform they are wearing.

In my uniform, I'm just another woman with a name tag clipped to her shirt, punching a time clock. There might be assumptions made on me and my life based on that uniform -- maybe on intelligence or education or the kind of person I am or the interests and abilities I possess -- who knows what goes through people's minds. You readers, if you did not know of me on this blog, would not even notice me at my new job. I'd just be another worker who either did or did not wait on you at the bakery case as you would have liked.

There was a moment today when I, on my way to punch out and leave, walked by a business person and smiled. I try to smile at everyone that I can, more for myself (when I smile, my mood lifts) than anyone else. I watched as this man took in my store cap, name tag, and white coat and went back to his business with a kind of dismissive sniff.

I'm not personally offended, though it was another good and humbling reminder to never get too full of myself since the mere arrangement of a shirt and cap quickly knocks me down in that ever-shaky and useless thing called "status."

But I also know that in different situations, the reaction would not have been the same. For example, I've noticed that I am greeted and smiled at and treated much differently when I am out at the airport getting ready to go flying. Or, when up front at a podium, presenting at a conference. My uniform is different.

But I'm not.

I'm the same person.

So, smile at the clerks in the grocery store or gas station, and tell them to have a good day. They are real people and they matter.



Note: The sad thing is that some people are actually less than the uniform, and some people have wrapped their identity into the uniform so much that when it's gone (i.e. they lose their job), they lose their identity.

Labels: essay, my life, work

Copyright (c) Julie R. Neidlinger  10/02/2008 09:11:00 PM   (3) comments   Links to this post    

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