February 26, 2025 “What’s your name?” I picked the habit up from a dear friend. Whenever we went out for a meal together, my friend would ask the server his or her name. After I heard it a few times, I started doing it, too. I never asked my friend why she does it, but I suspect we do it for similar reasons: It honors the server’s humanity. I worked for nearly five years as a server. It can sometimes feel a bit dehumanizing. I remember many occasions when someone snapped their fingers to call me to their table. It always made me feel like a dog responding to a whistle. Someone calling me to their table with “Hey, Darce” doesn’t feel that way. It feels human. Years removed from saying, “how would you like those eggs,” I sometimes fall into the trap of viewing servers only in a transactional way; it’s all about me and what they do or don’t do for me. There’s little or no regard to the fact that the server is a person, made in the image and likeness of God, with their own struggles and strengths. I find I’m much less likely to feel that way or treat a server that way if I ask his or her name, and I use that name. I think it’s easier to think of “the waitress” as a commodity. It’s hard to think of “Emma” or “Heidi” or “Ethan” as a commodity. This practice has been on my mind a lot lately, and I usually take that as a sign God wants me to spend some time praying on it and reflecting on it. I think God wanted me to realize that it’s been easy for me to apply my “what’s your name” practice with servers, because I can identify with them. I was one. I don’t always extend it to people in other service jobs, though. I get impatient when I don’t think the cashier is moving fast enough. I get snippy when the young pharmacy technician tells me there’s an issue with one of my prescriptions. The same three guys pump my gas regularly at a full-service station in my area, and I don’t know a single one of their names. I think God’s telling me to take some time this Lent to honor the humanity of people I don’t always treat as such. It’s time to learn some more names. |
|||||
|
|||||||||
