Day 10

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Hubbard Street

When I was in college, I was somehow enrolled into taking quarterly surveys. I never could figure out how it happened but I wasn’t upset about it. I took a survey once every few months and they paid me in Amazon gift cards.

The questions were always pretty much the same. They asked about your major, living and employment arrangements, general health and lifestyle habits, and a little about your mindset on a day-to-day basis. One section of the survey covered questions about how important it is to you that your future career is helpful for other people. My first two years taking the surveys, I gave my honest answer at the time which was that it didn’t matter to me whether my job helped people. All I cared about was being paid well and given the appropriate perks like insurance and PTO. My last two years, I started to realize that while it wasn’t a deal breaker, I cared a little more than I originally thought. Lately, I’ve been thinking that being able to help people does matter to me and that I’m hardly ever able to do anything actually helpful. Sure, I make restaurant reservations and arrange surprises or gifts for guests in their hotel rooms, but does that really “help” people? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never wanted to be a doctor or police. I’ve never wanted the consequences of my job to be life or death. One of the reasons I decided that I didn’t want to go into wedding planning was because there was too much on the line, but recently I started to feel like my work was meaningless.

What I've come to think is that food and beverage does matter to people. Whenever people want to get together, the easiest way to do it is around food. Holiday celebrations always incorporate food. First dates are made over drinks. Meals are cooked and delivered to houses or people in mourning. News is shared and memories are made in restaurants. This all makes me think that while my work may not be life or death, it is meaningful and I can impact people.