By Willie Spears, Guest Columnist
I was in the fast food restaurant Slim Chickens a few months ago, and there were two employees on break in a booth next to the table where my friend and I were sitting. My friend, Coach Bolware, looked at me as we could not help but overhear the inappropriate and vulgar conversation from the booth. One of the individuals appeared to be an adult supervisor, and the other a teenage worker. They were loud and unprofessional. Their conversation about how they were sick of working and ready to go home may have been appropriate in a break room, but not around the customers.
Am I old school, or was this inappropriate?
About a year ago, I ate with another coach friend at a seafood restaurant in Florida. We were the only customers in their outside seating area. We were there for lunch and noticed two employees rolling silverware two tables away over from us. They would put a knife, fork and spoon in a napkin and roll it together for future customers. As they sat there, we could not help but overhear their conversation about sex with their lovers. They went on to compare their sexual experiences from the night before. They laughed, giggled, bragged and tried to one-up each other. Both employees talked about how drunk and high they were and how the adventures from the previous night could affect their work performance during their current shift.
I simply don’t understand how people confuse private conversations with public conversations.
Recently, I was in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Queen City. As I sat there at the gate waiting to board the plane, I decided to finish eating my Panda Express dish of fried rice, super greens and honey walnut shrimp. Two young people were working at the airport desk in front of me, having a normal conversation. However, the young man used profanity in every sentence. He was not upset or trying to make a point, but he was simply in uniform, talking as if he was on his front porch.
This sort of unprofessionalism seems prevalent these days; however, you would be hard-pressed to find this type of unprofessionalism at Hobby Lobby or Chick-Fil-A. I believe we all do what we are allowed to do. I think our world is changing, and we don’t know the difference between professional and personal language.
Some call it code-switching.
According to Betterup.com, code-switching is how a member of an underrepresented group (consciously or unconsciously) adjusts their language, syntax, grammatical structure, behavior and appearance to fit into the dominant culture.
I don’t want my doctor talking to me like I’m her homegirl. I don’t want my banker talking to me like I am his childhood friend. I don’t want my pastor talking to me like I’m his golfing or fishing buddy. I want professional language in professional environments.
Dr. Ruby Payne talks extensively about the formal register in her books on understanding the framework of understanding poverty.
One of the most significant deterrents to economic or social growth is ignorance of appropriate communication.
“Now Hiring” is a weekly article written by author and public speaker Willie Spears, a Northwestern alumnus. He has written 13 books and travels around the country, adding value to the lives of others through his books and dynamic presentations. Learn more at www.williespears.com.